Demons
by Ella.R25
Summary: Raven stopped believing in the things that go bump in the night when she was eight years old, the only monster she ever knew was her overbearing Mother. But when she meets the Salvatore Brothers, all of that changes and Raven, along with her friends, realise they have been blind to how mystical Mystic Falls really is.
1. Prologue

_"A true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life."_

Love. It's a strange thing. It surrounds each one of us in an array of different ways; The unconditional love a parent feels for their child, the love a child feels for a parent, the love between siblings or even a love shared amongst friends. But the most confusing way in which people love is one that is in no way platonic, and this alone can come in all shapes and sizes.

To some, it is an obvious conclusion. They meet a person and there is that spark, they talk, and laugh, and date and the affection they begin to feel arrives naturally, and it is so simple. Those rare few are the lucky ones, because the flip side is that love can force it's way in out of no where. It can hit you like a lightning bolt and set it's sights on someone you would never expect. It could be a friend you've known your whole life, it could be your teacher or the guy who drives your bus to school...it could be someone you hate.

See, love is not always sincere and gentle. There is a darker side to it and while it is the complete opposite emotion to hate, they share many common attributes; it can be painful, it can make you angry and frustrated, it can force you to do things you never expected of yourself, it can make you kill for it...even die for it.

Love doesn't know when it isn't wanted, and if it does, it certainly doesn't care. And once you start to feel it, it is impossible to ignore. It blinds you, it clouds everything and forces you to act selflessly. You might try to fight it, pretend you don't feel it but eventually you will give in. In other words, love makes you it's bitch.

This unbelievably long story begins on my first day back at school when I was just seventeen. The day that my life changed forever, the day that set the wheels of so many events into motion. This is the story of how I met the Salvatore brothers, and how they turned my friends lives upside down, as well as my own. This is how I was thrown into a world of vampires, witches and werewolves and how I, along with the people I was thrown into it _with,_ became one big fucked up family in the process. It's one with many twists and turns. One with more than it's fare share of heartbreak and sorrow, anger and betrayal, death and destruction.

At first glance, it may seem dark and depressing. You may think it's about evil wreaking havoc in my little town, about the vulnerable's fight for survival.

But first and foremost, it is a story about love.


	2. Chapter 1

Raven Alessio examined her reflection as she ran a brush through her long hair. Her expression turned sombre as she noted how eerie the likeness between herself and her late father was. She held no resemblance to her Mother or older sister, not one bit. The two of them were blonde haired, blue eyed, wholesome looking beauties with milky white skin. Raven, on the other hand was unconventionally stunning with her jet black hair, deep brown eyes and olive skin. She was the Audrey Hepburn to her Mother's Rita Hayworth. She had all the best of her Father's Italian genes and although it made her sad, it also made her proud. Franco Alessio had proved in the tragically short time she spent with him, that he was a good man, and a devoted Father. If he could see what the Alessio family had become, he would have been ashamed. So, yes, the striking resemblance she bore to her father made her feel honoured, she was keeping him alive in some way.

"Raven, you're going to be late." The curt voice of my Mother yanked my attention from the mirror and I turned to see her leaning on the door frame, clasping a tumbler of brandy. Her long, manicured nails of her other hand tapping the side of the glass.

I let my eyes trail over her frame as she took a sip of her drink and, not for the first time, I struggled to believe I had lived in this woman's womb for nine months. It was probably pickled by now. After my Father's mysterious death, Mother had hit the bottle hard and, slowly, she had become less and less like a parent to me. These days, there was no connection between us, I felt little affection for the woman standing in front of me.

Despite her reliance on alcohol, she always maintained her stoic and immaculate appearance, she regularly highlighted the importance of presentation when moving in 'prosperous circles such as ours', it was like her thing. And looking at her now, I couldn't deny that, maybe in a different town, she would successfully fool the world. Her ash blonde hair was secured in a pristine bun, her fingers, neck and wrists were dripping in diamonds and she was wearing a black pencil skirt, white blouse and strappy black heels. It was strange attire for early morning but I was used to it; Mother always dressed like she could be invited to do a cover shoot for Forbes magazine at any given moment. But I knew better, I knew that the people of Mystic Falls considered her brash and snobby, I knew where she had really come from. Mother had started out at the bottom of the food chain, just another piece of trailer trash that had clung desperately to the first rich man she came into contact with; My poor father. And now, she thought herself superior to just about everyone. I itched for the day she would be put in her place.

"Whatever." I dismissed with a roll of my eyes, I picked up my brown satchel from my bed along with an oversized varsity jacket, feeling her eyes following me as I did so. I made for the door and waited for my Mother, who was gaping at me like a goldfish, to move. She didn't and I sighed.

"What now?"

"That's what you're wearing?" She looked horrified as her eyes scanned over me from head to toe. I glanced down at my outfit; skinny, high waist jeans, a loose, distressed black crop and a pair of black gladiator sandals, my anklet and a few toe rings peaking through the open toe. Added to the fact I was planning on wearing a boys football jacket, no less, my Mother was probably wondering how she had raised such a 'vulgar' daughter. A tad hypocritical, considering she had just polished off a generous measure of brandy at half past eight in the morning. "You look like some kind of... cannabis smoking hippy, Raven."

The words 'cannabis' and 'hippy' coming from my Mother's mouth sounded alien and I broke into a grin; a sure fire way to annoy Mother further.

"Cool. Thanks, Mom." I smiled as I took advantage of her shock to breeze past her and jog down the stairs.

My sister, Kennedy, who was practically a clone of my Mother, was making her way through the hall with her breakfast and gave me a smirk as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

I swiftly grabbed a piece of toast on my way past and silenced Kennedy's protests by flipping her the bird before opening and slamming the door behind me. I climbed into my beloved rust bucket of a beetle and turned the key in the ignition. It spluttered in response and I frowned.

"Come on, come on. Not today." I muttered to myself, turning the key over and over. On the eighth or ninth attempt, my little car had nothing left to give and it coughed it's last. After a few angry curse words and slamming the horn in frustration I rooted through my bag and hit number three on speed dial, placing the phone to my ear, I waited. And waited, and prayed it wouldn't go to voice-mail.

"Hi Raven." A sickly sweet voice came over the line and I welcomed it for once. "What's up?"

"I really hope the offer still stands on a lift to school, Caroline."

* * *

"I'm just saying, as one of the hottest girls in school...after me, obviously, you have a responsibility to drive a nice car."

I rolled my eyes as I walked through the school corridors by Caroline's side. I did love the blonde cheerleader but in _very_ small doses.

"I do drive a nice car, Caroline. It's vintage." I defended as we came to a stop by my locker.

"It's a hunk of junk." She corrected, opening her own locker a few down from my own.

"That hunk of junk is my baby."

Caroline slammed her locker shut and stalked over to me with her arms folded, waiting as I filled my bag with the necessary books for class. "Then it's time to get it adopted, Rae, seriously."

I said nothing as I closed my own locker and we continued on through the crowds, I noticed a smile creep upon Caroline's face and I knew she hadn't dropped the subject.

"You know what you should do?" The blonde squeaked eagerly. "You should get a new model beetle, you can get them in pink, they're really cut-"

And that was when I stopped listening, scanning the crowds desperately for an escape. Sure, Caroline Forbes was one of my best friends but we had very different views on just about every aspect of life. She was a lot like my Mother in a way, she revelled in the fancy parties, refused to wear anything but the latest fashions, she was shallow and every now again she made me question whether she actually had two brain cells to rub together. But, under the Barbie-doll exterior, Caroline had a big heart, she just didn't happen to show it very often.

"-Look there's Elena and Bonnie." I interrupted on seeing the two brunettes by Elena's locker. The distraction worked like a charm and Caroline headed over instantly, I was about to follow when two familiar faces caught my eye. I sighed. _Just ignore him Raven._

"Hey, Matt." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I gave him a dazzling smile, turning my attention to the dark haired boy he was stood with, I gave a stiff nod, making sure the stupid smile was still on my face, no matter how fake it was. "Tyler."

Matt looked so uncomfortable as his eyes darted from Tyler to me in the silence that followed and I immediately felt bad for doing this while he was here. "Um..." he cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go, um...yeah." Matt finished lamely but gave up and made a swift exit. The awkwardness unfortunately didn't leave with him.

Me and Tyler stared at each other for what felt like an hour. During that time, I had an internal battle with myself over whether to just punch him in his stupid, jock face.

"Listen, Rae-" He started and I held up my palm to stop him.

"-Don't." He sighed like he was frustrated, which he really didn't have any right to be."Don't bother, Tyler. We dated for a while, you cheated which was a total douchebag move but...I'm over it." I shrugged.

"You're over it?" He questioned disbelievingly. "Rae, you found out a week ago and you're over it already?"

_What did I see in this arrogant jerk?_

"Bang on target, Tyler." I smiled as I slid off my jacket, or rather _his_ jacket, before dumping it on his folded arms. "You're actually _really_ easy to get over."

If getting my phone out and taking a picture of his shocked face wouldn't have ruined the overall effect of my coolness, I would have. But I just smiled and turned away from him, basking in the taunting snickers of his friends who had witnessed the snub. I owed kudo's to the guy who said "Dude, you totally got owned.", his comment was my favourite. With a proud smirk, I headed to Bonnie and Elena, who were now stood by the school office and minus Caroline. They were already staring in my direction with looks of amusement, they had obviously seen the decimation of Tyler Lockwood's ego.

"Well, that wasn't what I expected." Elena smiled as she reached out to pull me into a hug. "You sure you're okay with the whole Vicki thing?"

"No." I mumbled over her shoulder, sighing as I pulled back from her. "Vicki was supposed to be my friend. Of course I'm not okay, but I'm not gonna let _them_ see that."

Elena simply nodded in understanding and I looked to Bonnie for a similar greeting but she was staring intently into the office. I looked to Elena who shrugged and I stepped to Bonnie's side, following her line of sight to a leather clad back. As far as backs go, it was up there with the best.

"So who are we eye-stalking?" I asked, pushing the strap of my bag further onto my shoulder.

"A guitarist from Seattle." Elena supplied. "If Bonnie's clairvoyancy is playing ball."

I couldn't help but groan. "You're psychic now?" Bonnie only averted her eyes to glare at me. "What's next, Professor X? Shape-shifting?" Elena chuckled and Bonnie lifted her chin in the air, still staring at the hot back.

Bonnie was constantly been told by her Grandmother that she was a witch, that their ancestors were witches from Salem, Bonnie would always say it was crazy yet every time I would see her she had new evidence proving that it was true, or some new power she had discovered. I knew that Bonnie secretly believed everything her Grams told her, but she would never admit that openly, even to us, because everyone knew witches did _not_ exist.

Elena suddenly excused herself and I only half heard her exit because, like Bonnie, I was now drooling over the rear end of Mr Seattle.

"Please be hot." Bonnie muttered and the we both watched with baited breath as the boy said a goodbye to the receptionist, he turned and his eyes instantly locked with mine, like he knew I'd been stood behind him all along. I felt a cold shiver roll down my spine and his eyes averted so quickly, I questioned whether or not he had actually looked at me. I looked to Bonnie whose jaw had hit the floor for a completely different reason. Yes, the boy was hot. He was the epitome of tall, dark and brooding with his chiselled jawline, deep-set eyes and heavy eyebrows but the strange feeling he had emitted from me with that one look diverted me from admiring him fully.

Bonnie smiled as he got nearer and as he passed me, his shoulder met mine ever so slightly, but what was actually a gentle brush felt like an electric shock and I gasped. For a split second, I woke with a jolt and in that smallest moment everything felt sharper. It was like my sense were heightened to an extreme, voices echoed around me, light was blinding and time seemed to slow, even though the people around me seemed to be moving at a quicker pace. This was all in the space of ten seconds and when that time had passed, I landed back in the room with a throbbing headache, blurry vision and severe dizziness. Through the haze in my mind, I could vaguely hear a voice calling over and over again.

"Raven!" My eye's snapped to Bonnie's worried face and it instantly brought me back to the world. I was stood, or rather slumped, against the wall of the corridor, my right hand bracing me while Bonnie had placed a hand on my left shoulder. "Rae, what the hell happened?"

I could feel Bonnie's eyes openly studying me with concern and I shook my head, frowning as my gaze landed on the mysterious boy who Elena was currently talking to. "I have no idea."


	3. Chapter 2

Lack of sleep? I always got plenty, a good twelve hours on a Sunday.

Bad diet? No. I always ate my greens, religiously made sure I got my five a day and drank nothing but water throughout school hours, so that also ticked off my next suggestion which was dehydration.

Stress? Despite the ex-boyfriend, ex-best friend situation along with the alcoholic Mother and spoilt bitch of a sister, I was relatively carefree.

And just like that, I was out of viable reasons for my peculiar turn earlier in the day. Which left only one possible cause, one which was completely _impossible_ at the same time; the new guy, who's name I now knew to be Stefan Salvatore, had the abnormal capability to make people feel like utter shit just by touching them.

Placing my chin in my palm and resting my elbow on the surface of the table in front of me, I sighed. I was going crazy.

And I wasn't the only one who thought so. Bonnie had looked at me like I had two heads when I told her about my senses going into overdrive, and this was a girl who was convinced she was a witch. She had shrugged it off like I did her premonitions, and then she had dragged me to the Mystic Grill, where I had to sit and listen while Caroline planned the next four years of her life with the Salvatore guy. I was understandably uninterested.

A hand placed a glass of Pepsi on the table in front of me but, seeing I was deep in thought, it wasn't enough to get my attention. The abrupt silence that followed, however, was, and I looked up to see Vicki. Caroline cleared her throat and I noticed Matt pause his pool game, pretending to concentrate on chalking his cue as he looked over to us.

"It's um," Vicki began dubiously, no doubt conscious of the various sets of eyes burning into her. "It's on the house." She said with a hopeful smile.

I just stared back blank faced, and then gave my former friend a dazzling smile. "A free coke!? Well, that makes up for everything. And here I was thinking you were a bad friend." My smile dropped and I pushed the glass back across the table. "Stick it up your ass, whore."

_Harsh but damn, that felt good._

Caroline snorted, attempting to cover it up with a cough and Vicki sighed in defeat, scurrying off in embarassment. My gaze automatically went to Matt who looked caught between dissapointment in his sister and the brotherly urge to check she was okay.

"Sorry, Matt." I spoke, knowing how close the two siblings were.

Matt tore his eyes from his sisters retreating back to glance at me and he offered a smile which didn't quite reach his eyes, he was obviously pissed off with Vicki. "She deserved it." He shrugged and with a sigh, he turned back to Bonnie and his pool game.

Normal Mystic Grill service had resumed once the awkwardness had gone. Caroline and I had chatted about the usual; boys, clothes and school, but when Tyler had arrived to shoot some pool, I had taken to staring daggers at him as he played. He was too busy keeping an eye on Jeremy Gilbert with Vicki to notice and Matt, well he was annoying Bonnie with questions about Elena. Then, the girl in question had shown up with Stefan in tow and an interrogation of sorts had begun. I lasted about fifteen minutes of Stefan's life story before quietly slipping away.

"Mind if I join you?" A voice asked as I was racking up the balls for a pool game, I looked up to see Stefan and I suddenly felt both suspicious and nervous. Even though the poor guy probably had no idea what he'd done. "I didn't really get a chance to talk to you before."

I nodded somewhat hesitantly and gestured for him to break. "Why would you wanna talk to me?" I asked casually as he leaned over to take his shot, he faltered and straightened to look at me.

"You're Elena's friend, and if I'm been honest?" He smiled and leaned in closer to lower his voice. "Caroline is a little...full on."

I let out a full laugh at that, "That's one way to describe her."

He once again, went back to his shot, hitting the white and my mouth fell open as he potted three balls straight off the spot.

"Whoa." He looked to me and gave a guilty shrug.

"So..." He started as he walked around the table, he stuck an arm out when he reached me. "We haven't technically been introduced yet, I'm Stefan. Stefan Salvatore."

I looked down at his hand warily and back at his smiling face. He seemed okay, kind of too perfect to be true although he couldn't really help that, but if I got the same feeling as I did that morning, it wouldn't be so easy to dismiss with him staring at me. That, and I'd look like a complete freak.

"Hate formalities." I excused with a wave of my hand, "But, I'm Raven Alessio." I smiled.

"Alessio?" He questioned while gesturing for me to take his turn, probably because if he didn't, he'd kick my ass within minutes.

"Uh huh," I nodded. "Weird name right?"

"It's Italian." He mused while I grumbled over the pot I had just attempted and failed.

"Er, Yeah it is. my Father's side emigrated here sometime before the civil war."

"So, you're from one of the founding families?" He asked as I passed the cue over, chuckling bitingly at his question.

"Oh yeah, and boy don't I know it." I smirked but then, _Isn't he new in town? _"How do you know about the founding families?"_  
_

I studied him carefully, I prided myself on been a very observant person and I instantly picked up on a flicker of something. Like he had slipped up, but it was gone with the blink of an eye and he held his palms up in surrender, his thumb latching onto the cue as he did so.

"You got me." He smiled. "I'm kind of a history nerd, I did a bit of studying before the move."

He used the strange silence that followed to take his turn at our game and I shook my head at my own ridiculous behaviour. Stefan was friendly, kind, easy-going and he was genuine when displaying each of these traits. Yet, here I was, searching for something wrong with him because it was easier than considering there was something wrong with _me._

"It's your shot, Raven."

He was looking at me expectantly and for the first time, I smiled warmly in return.

"Call me Rae."

* * *

As opposed to the one's my Mother forced me to attend, these were the kind of parties I loved to join in with . A huge gathering in the woods with beer, loud music and the odd illegal substance been passed around, there wasn't a champagne flute in sight and no formal dinner etiquette required. Bliss.

And thanks to my brilliantly shitty month, I was more than in the mood for a beer or ten.

Unfortunately, Tyler and Vicki insisting on making out in every corner I seemed to lay my eyes was seriously killing my buzz and, because I'm just _that_ lucky, my usually pitiful tolerance to alcohol seemed to have reached an all new high; as it always does when you want nothing more than to drown the shit out of your sorrows.

I'd just finished my fourth bottle of bud when I noticed Matt looking equally miserable, leaning on the hood of his car and not-so-subtly observing the sickly floor show Elena and Stefan were displaying up on the bridge. I took the last sip of my drink and threw the bottle onto the fire behind me, making my way over to Matt and grabbing another two bottles from a crate on my way.

"Quit pining over my friend, already." His head whipped around and his hands shot forward to catch the glass bottle I had decided to throw without warning, I couldn't help but laugh at his startled expression. "Nice catch, Quarterback."

I settled on the car bonnet next to him, pushing myself onto it fully and crossing my legs infront of me. Matt smirked as he twisted the lid off his bottle.

"That's like telling you to quit hating on my sister, already." He nudged me gently and I gave him a half-assed warning look, I could never pull off threatening when my audience happened to be Matt, even in jest. Eventually I nodded and nudged him back.

"Touche." And then we sat in silence for a few comfortable minutes, each sipping our drinks and wallowing in our own pathetic-ness as we watched everyone else having fun.

Strange as it was, it had been the best I'd felt in days. Just to be able to sit beside someone who didn't need to fill every pregnant pause with idle chatter, because we knew each other so well. I don't expect either of us knew how it had happened, I certainly didn't; we'd never hung out alone, we never had long, deep conversations by phone but every time our group of friends came together, we gravitated to each other. And from these short conversations we had discovered one major thing we had in common; both of our families sucked ass.

We both were alone, in a family capacity at least, and it was this that somehow gave us the ability to read the other so easily. I had been cheated on by two people I cared about and I felt angry and heartbroken by it, Matt knew asking just how heartbroken and angry I was would be futile, it would not make me feel better and it wouldn't change a thing.

He, on the other hand, was a completely different ball game. I covered my sadness with sarcasm and the dazzling smile that I'd had plenty of practice perfecting and if I ever needed to, I'd vent to either Elena, Bonnie or Matt. But he would quietly claw his way through, bottle it up because the only person _he_ could turn to for advice, apart from me, was Tyler Lockwood and well, any advice of Tyler's was not to be listened to. Of course, he had his sister, Vicki, but she was too busy screwing her life up to care about his. Oh, and then there was Elena, but she was now his ex and therefore the root cause of his moodiness.

But, although he was the master of pretending everything was fine, Matt Donovan deserved at least one person to allow him the chance to talk if he needed to. That would be me. "So, how are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess."

Apparently, he didn't need to talk.

"Listen, Rae, I know we don't normally do this stuff but I have to say something." I stared back, urging him to continue. "What Vicki did, it really sucked. I don't know what's up with her lately, every day she gets more and more like my Mom."

I shook my head as he spoke, taking a quick sip of my beer.

"You are not responsible for her, Matt. You're not the one that should be apologising."

"I know." He said seriously, turning his head to look at me with an expression to match. "but still, I feel bad about it."

I smiled softly at him, it was so typical of Matt to feel guilty of something that he had absolutely no control over. Like myself, he seemed to be constantly apologising for his screwed-up family's mistakes.

"Yeah, well don't." I breathed through a sigh. "It's Tyler and Vicki's job to feel bad and trust me, Donovan. I am gonna make them _feel_ it."

"I don't doubt you." He laughed.

_Finally_, I thought. So far my first week back at school had been way too depressing. I giggled with him and swayed to bump his shoulder with my own, just as his laughter trailed off while he stared into space. I followed his line of vision and felt the need to awkwardly clear my throat. It wasn't just any space he was staring into, it was a space occupied by his ex-girlfriend and our mysterious new friend.

"What's that guy like?" He asked, nodding his head toward Stefan. As if I didn't already know who he was enquiring about.

I made a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh. "You're probably not gonna want to hear this, but he seems really nice."

"A major step down from you obviously." I quickly tacked on with a smirk which he seemed to appreciate, then I jumped to my feet with a sudden feeling of annoyance at myself. "God Donovan, we suck!" I declared, pacing the ground in front of his car before stopping to look at him "What are we doing?"

"Umm...sitting here, drinking?" He attempted, clearly thinking I had gone crazy for asking such an obvious question.

"Yeah and talking about our failed relationships like losers." I looked around the party, noting Elena on the bridge having some kind of intimate moment with Stefan. Vicki, thankfully had detached herself from Tyler's lips and was no where to be seen and Tyler was stood alone, staring in our direction and boasting discernible anger, which I thought was severely misplaced for someone who had just spent the summer sleeping with my best friend.

I rolled my eyes and looked back to Matt and with sudden determination, I held up my bottle in toast. "You know what I say...screw them; Vicki, Tyler, Elena, even though I love her but screw 'em."

"I'll drink to that." He chuckled, bringing his arm up to force our bottles to collide with a soft clink. And with his approval, I continued on my tangent.

"You don't see any of them moping around, they're having fun, getting drunk and making out. That's what we should be doing."

He nodded with a smile but then furrowed his brow, thinking over my words. Or rather, over-thinking them.

"Wait, are you saying you want us to make out?" He asked, pushing from his casual position and taking a step towards me.

He smirked down at me. This was heading in a direction I hadn't anticipated and I had a rapid argument in my mind whether it was a good idea to pursue it. Matt was my friend, a damn good friend and as the breakdown of his and Elena's relationship had shown, becoming romantically involved with your good friend was kind of a bad idea.

But the drunken part of my brain, and therefore the shallow,selfish part was saying go for it, he's cute.

"I meant having fun." I whispered and for a split second he almost looked disappointed, taking a step back with a nod.

"But now that you mention it..." I began. Closing the gap he had placed between us, I beamed up at him. "I kinda love the way that would screw with their heads."

His toothy grin reappeared and the all too familiar silence leading up to a kiss, or in this case, a huge mistake, fell between us. He began to slowly bow his head towards my own, his eyes drifting to my lips and then...

"Somebody help!" Our heads whipped around to a panicked Elena and Jeremy. The latter of the two was emerging hurriedly from the woods carrying a lifeless body.

Safe to say, the previously hormone fuelled mood altered dramatically. But then, as Matt and I rushed over, it seemed the potential cause for regret I had just narrowly escaped was replaced by a new one as I realised who the lifeless body actually was.

Vicki Donovan.

* * *

I watched in a daze as Matt climbed in the ambulance to be with his sister. Any memory or sign of our earlier almost-kiss understandably gone, it wasn't important now. As soon as I saw Vicki's pale face and the fresh blood oozing from the weird bite mark on her neck, the only thing that came into my mind were my last words to her.

_Stick it up your ass, whore._

Whore. It was the last word I spoke to the girl who, up until two weeks ago, I had considered my best friend and it made me feel nauseous. At the time it felt good, not giving her the time of day had felt right, like she didn't deserve it. But the mess with Tyler had become insignificant during the last half hour and Vicki was now fighting for her life.

And she would maybe die thinking I hated her.

There was a conversation going on around me but I couldn't think of anything else besides what I saw. A hand squeezed my shoulder and I looked to my right, Bonnie, who had been stood by my side the whole time gave me a comforting smile before looking to Elena and I decided now was the time to tune back in.

"Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..."

She paused for added effect, which was really not needed right now. I wiped at the tears that had at some point fallen down my cheeks and frowned at her.

"Bonnie, what?" Elena asked with a sense of urgency and Bonnie took a deep breath, looking between both of us before continuing.

"That it's just the beginning."


	4. Chapter 3

My eyes snapped open and I gasped as I took in the vast forest surrounding me. It was daylight, but the sun was rapidly going down and the area surrounding me was silent, only the sound of wind howling through the trees.

Suddenly, mist gathered around my feet and soon enough, the forest floor was covered by thick fog and I found myself in darkness but no longer alone. A hooded figure stood in the distance, standing motionlessly as I stared back at him. He took a step forward, then another and my steady breathing built up pace as he coolly made his way towards me. Whoever it was, took their time, stalking almost leisurely and I turned to run, racing through the trees and leaping over rocks as quick as my feet would allow.

Before I knew it, I had sprinted straight into a clearing and I skidded to a stop upon seeing it. I cast a glance over my shoulder to find the random figure gone and I made a conscious effort to slow my breathing while I scanned the clearing, my eyes were instantly drawn to the ancient looking ruins that had made up a large building at some point in the past. The fog around my feet creeped away but I ignored it as I took hesitant steps to the walls, holding my breath and gazing up at it with awe. I reached a shaky hand out to the wall although just as I was about to touch the solid stone I fell, the ground giving way and I hit the floor beneath with a thud.

As soon as my body made contact with the hard surface, I felt and heard the bone crack in my leg and I gave a blood curdling scream at the intense pain that vibrated through it but it stopped a moment later and I frowned, tentatively stretching my broken limb, my eyes widened with shock and panic when I no longer felt any pain. The bone had healed.

Feeling intensely freaked out, I carefully got to my feet and span on my heel, taking in the huge ditch I had somehow found myself in. My gaze fell on a slither of stone that had some kind of emblem carved into it and I again, reached out, feeling an unexplainable pull towards it. My fingers were tracing the strange star sign when I felt movement behind me, my body whipped around instantly and I froze upon seeing the man from before, the lack of light making the face-shaped space underneath his hood contain nothing but black. I gaped as he took a step forward and his face was revealed, my shoulders sagged in relief when Stefan stared back at me, the soft smile present on his face as he let his hood fall from his head.

He took another step forward, his eyes darkening and the smile shifting to a wicked smirk. I automatically took one step back, hitting the wall behind me, I forced myself to meet his eyes to find them looking painfully bloodshot, his normally green irises a deep shade of yellow and each eye framed by protruding veins, then, he bared his teeth, which elongated into pointy fangs before my eyes. I screamed over and over as loud as I could, he growled, his lip turning up into a sinister grin...then he lunged.

I sat bolt upright, breathing like I had just taken part in a marathon and looked around in panic, feeling like a prize idiot when I recognised I was in my bedroom, in my bed. I exhaled, a gentle laugh escaping as I did so and I glanced at the clock which read _05:13,_ a not-so healthy two hours sleep. With a sigh, I flopped back onto my pillow and turned onto my side, putting the vivid nightmare to the back of my mind.

* * *

"You look like shit." The kind voice of my sister informed me as I entered the kitchen.

Given I'd been awake since seven attempting to cover the dark circles under my eyes with layers and layers of foundation, I was less than grateful for her observation.

Kennedy, however looked the definition of perfection as she painted her toe nails a pastel pink, her foot resting on the breakfast table as she worked on them from her chair. It didn't shock me, considering the only thing _she_ had to worry about was finding a shade of lipstick to match her outfit.

I rolled my eyes as I poured myself a mug of coffee, before lazily dumping my body on the chair opposite her.

"Yeah, well appearances kind of become a lesser priority when your friend is mauled by a rabid dog." I answered after taking a gulp of my drink.

"Ew." Was her profound apply as she tilted her head, admiring her well pedicured feet. "Sooooo, I have a big date tomorrow night."

I exhaled through my nose with closed eyes, therefore ceasing the urge to roll them, a thing I found myself doing an awful lot when in my older sibling's company.

"Good for you."

She nodded with fervor and finally looked at me. "It's with this banker from the city called _Charles_," She spoke his name in an exaggerated posh English accent and moved her foot to place it on the floor. "He's British." She grinned.

I gave her a faux-smile full of excitement to humour her before going back to more interesting matters, like staring into my mug, the insincerity was lost on her and she continued. I knew where this was going. The same place it always was when she talked to me like we were suddenly BFFs...she wanted something.

"He's taking me to this little Mexican place near the beach and I was wondering..." _Here it comes_... "Can I borrow your anklet?" _And there it is._

I didn't even hesitate.

"Nope." I said, popping the P and not even bothering to look at her.

"Please? It'll go with these great strappy heels I just bought." She tried in a whiny voice that was _not_ going to get her anywhere, I still didn't move. "Come on, Rave-."

"Kennedy," I interrupted through gritted teeth and her sparkly blue eyes looked into mine hopefully. "Listen to me. The _only_ way you will get that anklet from me is if you go at my lower leg with a hacksaw."

Her smile fell and the look of contempt I was so used to was back, It didn't faze me.

"_Fine_." She exclaimed in a huff, slamming her palms on the table and pushing herself to her feet. "Have a good day at school, _loser._"

I simply smiled and gave her a small wave. Nothing she said bothered me any more, It didn't make me angry, it didn't make me upset, it garnered no emotion from me because I realised at a young age that retaliation was all she needed to know she had gotten to me.

Yes, Kennedy was pathetic, and so unbelievably _deluded_ if she thought I would ever trust her with my most treasured possession. I wouldn't even trust her to make toast.

The beautiful anklet had been promised to me from birth by my Father, having been passed down through generations of female Alessio's. He'd told me the tale many times, of how our ancestors had been nothing but a small clan of gypsies when they had arrived in what would become Mystic Falls during the 1800's and, how my great great great great grandfather, Luca Alessio, had been the one to quash all snobbery towards the clan by making his fortune in the field of science, that, and a close friendship with respected inventor, Johnathon Gilbert. He told me it was passed down from Father's to their daughters and I often wondered why he had chosen to leave it to me,rather than Kennedy. It was a question I would never get an answer to.

I finished my coffee and headed to the living room to begin the search for my cherry red Doc Martens, which I had left haphazardly on the floor after the train-crash of a party the night before. My Mother was laid face down on the sofa, fully dressed in a flowy black dress and red stiletto heels, one of her arms was dangling from the edge and clutching the neck of an empty bottle of Vodka.

The sight was all too familiar to me and, after I was satisfied she was still alive after hearing the loud snore that emanated from her, I shrugged it off, getting down on my knees to crawl around the floor in the hunt for my shoes. I noticed the toe of my boot peeking out from under the mahogany coffee table and I ducked under, straining my arm to reach for it. Why my Mother insisted on buying such grand furniture was beyond me.

I finally got a hold on the shoe and stayed in my awkward position beneath the furniture, scanning the floor for the other one.

"Looking for this?" I jumped and the crown of my head met the underside of the table, I rolled out with a groan and rubbed at the sore spot which was now throbbing, looking at the source of the voice.

Sofia. Our live-in housekeeper and probably the kindest woman placed on God's Earth was smiling warmly back at me, holding my boot in her right hand. I nodded and she walked further into the room, gently letting my boot fall to the floor, I began the long task of putting the boots on my feet as she started cleaning up my Mother's mess.

As far back as I could remember, Sofia had been around. She had been my Grandfather's maid, carer and most trusted friend and after his death, my Father couldn't bear to see her alone and offered her a similar position in his own home. Only this time she had been _my_ carer as a baby,a toddler and a teen, amongst other things. She had been a teacher, a friend and a Mother all rolled into one, the only positive influence in my life and the sole reason I had shifted away from my deeply rebellious phase.

She was in her mid forties now but she hadn't seemed to aged a day from my first memory of her face. Her chocolate brown hair was always styled in an immaculate bun, neatly secured with a bronze butterfly clip and despite her age, her skin was, and always had been flawless with a radiant glow, her eyes were the palest shade of gray possible without been white, both soft and piercing at the same time. And although I'd never seen her dress any other way but in the smart blouse and skirt combination with a pair of sensible court shoes, she always managed to carry her plain clothes with an air of poise and grace.

The essence of elegance and decency is what she was. I regularly joked she was the Mary Poppins of Mystic Falls. Wise, insightful with an ability to always say and do the right thing. Sofia's nature demanded respect but not from been stern or imposing but from been truthful, supportive and completely genuine.

"How is your friend?" She asked in her well spoken voice.

I sighed, finishing up my laces and moving to stand. "No word. I left Matt like, five voice-mails but he must still be at the hospital."

I moved through to the kitchen, Sofia following as I rooted through the fridge and fruit bowl, packing a bottle of water and snacks into my bag.

"Are you going to visit her after school?" She asked.

"Um, I dunno...I want to." I shrugged, "But I'm still mad at her."

"Raven, Vicki made a mistake."

"Yeah, I saw her making it over and over..." I paused for effect. "and _over_ again last night,"

Sofia chuckled softly, accompanied by a light shake of her head. "Vicki is a troubled child and you are a kind-hearted person, Raven. It is not a weakness to show her you still care nor does it mean all is forgiven...It only means you are human."

I stopped mid-sip of my water, pausing to stare at her as she busied herself with wiping the kitchen side. As always, she was right. No matter how much I loathed Vicki for betraying me, at some point she had meant a lot to me.

"Thanks." I said quietly, "I'll think about it."

* * *

And I did think about it. A hell of a lot.

I thought about it while Caroline moped over some blue-eyed mystery guy-who-got-away, while Bonnie was considering and simultaneously dismissing the possibility she could be psychic and _definitely_ during Elena's anti-climatic tale of how she and Stefan had a non make-out session the night before.

Which is why I found myself nervously roaming a hospital corridor. I hated these places with a passion; the sickly, sterile smell, the glum faces of all the relatives who were anticipating news of their loved ones, not to mention the patients themselves. The sick, old and infected who were deathly pale and coughing their germs everywhere. Hospitals were depressing.

Not to mention all the god-damn halls looked _exactly_ the same. Intensive care, Coronary care, Maternity suites, Blue zones, green zones, red zones...I absent mindedly contemplated how much of a bitch it would be to navigate this place if I was dyslexic or colour blind.

I swivelled on my heel, helplessly searching for the ward, or zone, or whatever I was headed for when my eye's fell upon Matt, falling uncomfortably in and out of consciousness on a hard plastic chair. My puzzled expression, which by now, I imagine bore a resemblance to constipation, immediately softened and I sauntered over. Dumping my bag on the floor, Matt's drooping eyes snapped open as I took my seat beside him, he nodded at me in greeting while stifling a yawn.

He sat up a little straighter, rubbing his hands on his knees as he glanced around at passers by before looking back at me, I offered him a Cheeto from the bag I'd just opened and he declined with a shake of his head.

"Thanks for coming, I, uh, wasn't sure you would."

I paused with a mouthful of Cheetos and shrugged. I was pretty useless when it came to this sort of thing, I wasn't known for coping with illness and death too well.

"How is she?" I queried, my voice wavering slightly.

"Awake, Jeremy's in there with her now." I silently nodded, knowing full well why Jeremy was so concerned."You wanna go in?"

"No rush, I'll wait till Jer comes out." I sighed while Matt rubbed a hand over his face. "So did she say anything? About the attack?"

"Yeah, It was kinda weird, she said it was an animal this morning."

"-How is that weird?" I frowned, popping another chip into my mouth.

"'Cos last night she was completely freaked, started screaming and stuff...she said it was a..." He leaned a little closer. "...a _vampire_." He whispered.

I instantly froze and my mind wandered to the very realistic nightmare I'd had that morning. The nightmare that had forced me awake like the tortured heroine from some cliché B-rate movie.

"Crazy, right?" Matt shook his head with a worried grin, his eyes studying my reaction. I forced myself to nod but my mind was elsewhere.

I couldn't put a name to what Stefan had transformed into in that dream, because there wasn't any thing in real life that compared to that. But if I had to put a label on it, if someone asked me what the pointy teeth and red eyes resembled to me, Vampire would be the word I would choose. Either Bonnie's psychic abilities were catching or it was one hell of a coincidence.

Witches, psychics, creepy, unexplained vibes and now...vampires? _Of course it's all coincidental you lunatic._

I sighed. I was in dire need of a vacation.

"Raven?" Matt's voice calling my name for a third time finally stirred a response in me and I looked at him, noticing Jeremy Gilbert standing idly by the door to Vicki's ward. "You wanna see Vic?"

"Uh, yeah." I nodded and stood, handing my half-eaten bag of snacks to Matt. "Hi Jer." I acknowledged as I passed him.

I stopped at the doorway to take a deep breath, then I entered. Vicki was propped up in bed by a mountain of pillows, looking bored and kind of corpse-like, but still gorgeous as ever...that particular fact irked me to no end. Even with a bloody chunk ripped out of her neck, she still managed to look effortlessly pretty.

"Hey." I said, as politely as possible. Sofia was right about my kind hearted nature but I wasn't a Saint by any stretch of the imagination, I still had a longing to claw her eyes out.

Her head flopped to the side and a huge grin slowly crept in to light up the whole of her face.

"Hey." She replied, her eyes twinkling with the same hopefulness as when she attempted her lame idea of a peace offering. "You were the last person I thought I'd see."

I gave a one shoulder shrug, crossing my arms and stepping further into the room.

"I'm getting kind of offended that people keep saying that, like I'm going to ignore you when you're on your deathbed..." I leisurely scanned the cards and flowers on her bedside table, reading a get well message from Liz Forbes before placing it back down and looking up at her with a small smirk."...wouldn't miss _this_ for the world."

"Ouch!" She laughed. "Well, at least your talking to me."

"Yeah well, don't read too much into it." I didn't sit, choosing to stand at the foot of her bed instead. I cleared my throat, purposely refusing to meet her eyes. "No Tyler?"

"Nah, hasn't been once." She shrugged like it didn't matter. But her tone of voice said otherwise and as I finally met her eyes, she averted hers to her clasped hands.

Tyler was doing to her what he'd done to me. The phrase 'What goes around, comes around' sprung to my mind but I didn't speak it. Although, I may as well had done seeing as a loud unamused chuckled forced it's way from my lips.

"He's such a prize isn't he?" I mocked with a fake dreamy smile. "Totally worth sacking off eight years of friendship."

She looked deservedly ashamed so I took the silence to say what I needed to.

"Look, I came to see if you were good and I can see that you are, and believe me, I am so relieved. When I saw you get carried out of those woods all I could think was my final words to you could not be whore, I didn't want you to think that I hated you...cos I don't...hate you. I don't particularly _like_ you right now and don't think for a second that I came here to make _you_ feel better...I'm not that selfless. I came to make _me_ feel better because I would not be able to live with myself if I didn't show you I still care...even if it is just a little bit."

She looked stunned, her mouth hanging open as she thought of a reply comparable to my little speech.

"...Okay."

Vicki never was very good with words.

"I haven't forgiven you, Vicki, not by a long shot." I told her honestly.

She nodded glumly, her attention going back to her hands and I raised an eyebrow.

Disappointed for even showing her this much kindness, I muttered curse words under my breath as I rooted through my bag.

"That been said..." I pulled out of a stack of magazines, ones I knew were Vicki's favourites; Rolling Stone, Inked and a few clothing ones. I threw them on the bed by her feet and she looked at them, then at me in confusion. "...I'm not about to let you die of boredom. Too easy."

She grinned and I flopped onto the end of the bed, I could feel her eyes watching me as I pulled out my homework and began to write with my head bowed over my notebook. My hair shielded my face from her but I saw her hand eventually reach out for one of the magazines and I smiled to myself.

Although I would refuse to talk to her for a long, _long_ time. It felt good to be one tiny step closer to forgiving my best friend.

* * *

Raven dragged her feet across the hardwood floor of The Mystic Grill. Due to her lack of sleep and overall bad day, standing like a tool with a candle while waiting for the comet to pass, was not very high on the list of ways she wanted to spend her night.

She just stood as she looked around the empty Grill. It would have been peaceful if Tyler and Jeremy weren't already there, fighting for the attentions of Vicki.

Raven rolled her eyes and made her way over to the bar, sliding onto one of the bar stools and groaning as even sitting down seemed to require energy she was severely lacking.

"Hey Robert." Raven waved to the barman and he sauntered over with knowing smirk.

"No." He said when he reached her, placing his hands on the bar.

"No?" She repeated, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean, no? I didn't even ask for anything."

"You don't have to. Everyday for the last eighteen months you've walked in here, fluttered those pretty eyelashes and asked for some form of alcoholic drink." Raven sighed in defeat. "And everyday for the last eighteen months my answer has been no...and it will remain a no everyday until you turn twenty one."

"Just a teeny one?" She pleaded, showing him the small gap between her thumb and forefinger as she gestured. "I'll have light beer, that's not strong right? Come on Rob, I've had the _worst_ day."

He smiled, a friendly, slightly teasing smile and leaned closer. "_No_, Raven."

Raven opened her mouth to either cleverly retort or give up when an unfamiliar voice interrupted.

"Hey, Buddy." Raven and Robert both turned their heads to the black-haired man who was seated two stools away, dressed all in black and nursing a tumbler of bourbon. The man curled back his finger, beckoning Robert to go to him, which he did. "Get the girl a drink, a strong one." The man said, and Raven looked on as Robert held the man's unwavering eye contact before he nodded.

"Sure," He smiled. "I'll get her a drink."

Raven's jaw literally dropped as she watched Robert pour her a generous measure of Jack Daniels before placing it on the bar in front of her. She speedily gave him a crumpled bill before he changed his mind and he left Raven and the mysterious man to their drinks. She was still in shock and turned back to the man with a look of disbelief. He ignored her as she watched him take a long sip of his drink.

"How the hell did you do that?" She asked in amazement.

He glanced at her with a smirk before going back to staring straight ahead. "Powers of persuasion."

She exhaled a laugh. "I have tried everything short of physical contact to get him to serve me. His resolve is the reason I have a dresser full of _dangerously_ low cut tops." The man raised an eyebrow at that and turned his head. "The guy is unbreakable, he's like notorious for it."

She paused and he took her silence to go back to his bourbon, the majority of which almost ended up in his lap when Raven suddenly gasped. He looked at her again in annoyance.

"He's gay." She declared, her brown eyes wide as she thought.

The man laughed and looked at her, his eyes trailing up and down her frame as she took a sip of her drink and winced, blissfully unaware of the man's studious gaze.

Upon deciding talking to a pretty teenage girl would be more interesting than sitting alone, he scooted over to the spare seat between them, coaxing Raven to turn to him.

"Damon." He introduced, sticking out his hand with a smirk.

"Thanks for the drink, Damon." She smiled and shook his hand.

A lot happened in the next few seconds following Raven touching Damon's skin. She recoiled instantly, backing up in panic and causing the legs of her stool to scrape loudly on the floor as she stood. The smile was gone and her eyes flitted about in her head, like she was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Then, she turned back to him but looked everywhere but his face.

"I'm sorry, I...I have to go." And then she practically ran from the building, leaving a very confused Damon in her wake.


	5. Chapter 4

Damon was a lot of things. He was smug, arrogant, callous and of course...evil, but he was rarely curious. People seldom grabbed his attention enough to even feature into his day, never mind capture his curiosity.

But the girl from the bar had done so successfully with her strange behaviour, even it hadn't been enough for him to remember her damn name.

It wasn't bothering him, nothing bothered Damon. But he was intrigued, and that was unsettling enough because initially, he hadn't thought of her as anything spectacular. He hadn't compelled the barman to serve her out of generosity, he'd done it because their friendly banter had been irritating him. But then the raven-haired beauty had surprised him by been vaguely amusing and then, she had surprised him further with her abrupt exit.

Whether she was aware of it remained to be seen, but Damon was familiar enough with the supernatural to know there was something mystical rooted within the teen and he had every intention of finding out what it was.

He flopped onto a seat by the fire, swilling the glass of alcohol in his hand.

"Something troubling you, Brother?" Damon asked, never tearing his eyes away from the flames while sinking the remainder of his whisky.

"Thought you had a date." Stefan said as he leaned against the doorway.

"I do." He stood, going over to a decanter and refilling his glass. "But a guy can't look too keen, Stefan." He smirked,wagging a finger towards his Brother. "Coolness is key, keeps them dangling...wanting more. That, and spending an extra ten minutes listening to Caroline yammer about _everything-that-is-incredibly-dull_ might just finish me off."

"We live in hope." Stefan quipped with a lopsided smile.

Damon gasped, dramatically placing a hand over his heart but his smile fell instantly and he rolled his eyes at his brother's lame attempt at humour.

"I have a question." He stated and Stefan sighed as he watched Damon pace their living room, his hands moving animatedly as he talked like always. "There was a girl in the grill yesterday, right before our...incident with the lovely Victoria-"

"-Incident? Is that what we're calling it?"

Damon nodded with a self satisfied smirk then took a quick swig of his drink. "Back to the girl." He said coolly. "Cute little thing, stunning actually, reminded me of Natalie Wood from that god awful movie." He mused, staring off into space. "You know the one. Warring gangs, star-crossed lovers and all that vomit-inducing garbage."

"West side story." Stefan supplied, sounding bored yet cautious.

"Yes!" Damon agreed with a snap of his fingers before remembering himself and shaking his head. "Anyway...she's about yay high, black hair, big brown eyes, sassy dresser."

His younger brother merely stepped forward, narrowing his eyes. Damon gave him a broad, tight-lipped smile in return.

"What are you up to, Damon?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm tired of that question. Answer mine."

Stefan didn't move or give any kind of answer. He folded his arms and raised his eyebrows, silently letting Damon know he wouldn't get anything from him while across the room, with his sinister smirk, Damon knew he would get everything he wanted from him.

Unfortunately for the youngest Salvatore, Damon could read him like a book.

Where Stefan naively thought his refusal would be an end to the conversation, Damon simply viewed his brother's silence as a challenge...and not a very challenging one. Stefan's downfall was that he cared about, well, _everyone. _All the little defenceless humans were his to protect, his morals were perfectly intact while Damon, he had none. There was no cards that Damon wasn't prepare to play, no lows he wouldn't sink to. His young Brother needed to remember that.

Damon Salvatore knew exactly which buttons to press when it came to Stefan. As long as it included a human and a threat of their untimely, brutal death, Stefan would be putty in his hands.

"I take it from your silence she's a gal pal of our doppelgänger girlfriend's?" Damon smirked to himself as he gauged his brother's reaction, Stefan had a dreadful poker-face. "If you'd prefer I could always spy on her? Compel Caroline into telling me _everything_, including where she lives? Then I could turn up at her house all charming but flustered, because my car just broke down and I need to use her phone. She'll invite me in and...well, you can guess how things would progress from there."

Stefan sighed, his hands falling loosely to his sides as he watched his older brother breezily cross over to a chair, plopping himself down and placing his feet on the coffee table in front of him. He was evidently very pleased with himself.

He smiled widely, lifting his glass up to his lips but pausing before taking a drink. "Whenever you're ready, Brother."

"You mean Raven." Stefan finally complied through gritted teeth.

_Man, that was just **too** easy. _

"Raven?"

"Yes." He confirmed. Taking a few steps forward, he leaned over placing a hand either side of his brother's chair and looking Damon squarely in the eyes. "Stay away from her, Damon."

"I'm also tired of that demand. I thought you'd have realised by now, it has no effect." Damon quipped, holding Stefan's eye contact with ease. "Raven what?"

Stefan straightened, taking slow strides towards the door, he paused at the frame and turned back around to the room.

"Alessio." It was Stefan's turn to smirk as Damon's relaxed demeanour stiffened and his jaw dropped. He slid his feet from the table and planted them on the floor whilst placing his glass firmly on the wood of the table. "Sound familiar?"

"...Shit." Damon muttered.

"I thought something along those lines." Stefan admitted with a one shoulder shrug. "Keep your distance."

Stefan then left, leaving Damon to the thoughts racing through his head before the smirk slowly reappeared on his face.

If his Brother thought for one second he would neglect to satisfy his curiosity because of a squabble with 'Raven's' ancestors that had occurred 150 years ago, he was sorely mistaken. Damon was never one to err on the side of caution.

Yes, he had a diabolical plan to follow through with and that was his number one priority. Getting Katherine back was Damon's endgame.

But who was to say he couldn't have a little fun along the way?

* * *

"Raven, what the hell are you doing?"

Well, this was awkward.

I stared at Matt's expression of complete shock from my uncomfortable position, dangling half-in, half-out of his kitchen window, straddling the frame at a weird mid-roll angle. I had no doubt it was incredibly unattractive.

"Hi." I stupidly greeted with a guilty smile.

He rushed over from his place at the kitchen doorway, empty plate in hand, having probably just eaten his dinner and dumped it on the worktop. He then grabbed me by the back of my hoody and pulled. I yelped as I fell to the floor with a thud and winded 'umph', leaving me in a crumpled heap by his feet

I groaned as he looked down at me, a questioning eyebrow raised.

"I thought you'd still be at practice." I croaked, holding out an arm for him to pull me to my feet. Which he did with surprising ease.

"So you decided to break into my house?" He asked while I straightened myself out.

I frowned, clucking my tongue and delivering a gentle slap to his shoulder.

"I wasn't breaking in." I stated like it was obvious. He followed as I moved through his kitchen and into the living room. "My Mom and Kennedy are driving me crazy, this is my safe-house, remember?"

"Yeah, when you were fifteen and strung out." He replied, looking on in disbelief as I made myself comfortable on his couch. "And even then, you never jimmied open a window."

"It was open and I couldn't find the spare key." I shrugged nonchalantly. I finally looked to him to find him with the same expression as before, I widened my eyes and gave him my best innocent smile and the frown lines across his forehead smoothed over. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head as he joined me on sofa.

"Well, Vicki's out, you might have a long wait."

"Oh no." I breathed out a laugh. "I am _definitely_ not there yet." Picking the TV remote up from between us, I began flicking through the guide as I talked. "I may be on speaking terms with her again but since the hospital, it hasn't stemmed beyond 'Hello'...and I'm not sure it will, at least for a while." I glanced at his face to find him frowning in confusion and I rolled my eyes. "I came to see _you_, moron."

I could practically feel his face redden when I turned my attention back to finding something good to watch and I sunk further into the couch.

"So," He started, "What are Kennedy and Marie up to?"

"Urgh." I groaned, twisting my body to rest my feet on his lap and throwing the remote to him, giving up on finding something decent. "Well, my Mom's been in a Vodka haze since I woke up and Kennedy's spent a steady..." I lingered on the word, looking down at my watch. "...twelve hours getting ready for her date tonight."

"Seriously?" He chuckled.

"Yeah. Honestly Matt, the house is huge and I can't get away from the chaos, anyone would think the President is coming for tea. This _Charles_ guy is literally coming to pick Kennedy up and leave...I caught my Mom, buzzed off her face, cleaning the inside of the oven with a _toothbrush._" I sighed. "I really don't know how Sofia copes, the woman is a saint."

"If it was that bad why didn't you, oh I don't know...turn up for school?" He teased.

"Because I've had zero hours sleep and I look like _this_." I informed him, gesturing to my own body. No make-up, hair thrown into a messy bun, wearing the baggiest hoody and joggers I could find and laid limply on his sofa like a dead fish.

"You look fine to me." He smiled softly.

The second strange silence in a week descended between us and I opened my mouth to offer some kind of response but words failed me. And _that_ was a rarity in itself.

We were having yet another of those moments but this time there was a huge, awkward gap separating us and I was completely sober, which meant I couldn't play the drunk card if it turned out we were completely misreading other. But then I felt his thumb softly rubbing against my calf and the fact that we were still staring at each other told me we were reading one another just fine.

And then my phone rang.

It was either the second sign or the second omen.

I sighed, pulling my phone from the pocket of my hoody and answering it right away, knowing 'Ding dong, the witch is dead' was a ringtone I'd assigned to one specific person.

"Hey Bon...I know I'm not home, I'm at Matt's...and?... ... ...Urgh, Bonnie, really?... ...Why do I need to be there?... ... ...Fine. But you owe me for this."

I hung up and dragged my behind from the comfortable sofa, turning to Matt, who had become engrossed in a Basketball game while I had been talking.

"Does Vicki still have some of my clothes here?" He nodded yes and I nodded back. "Great, well now is as good a time as any to reclaim some of them...I'll be twenty minutes."

True to my word, I descended the stairs twenty minutes later looking marginally better than I did before. My hair had been let loose and finally brushed, I'd stolen some of Vicki's make-up and succeeded in covering the tired circles under my eyes and, upon finding she owned more of my clothes than I remembered lending her, had managed to dig out some skinny, khaki green cargo pants, a white racer back vest top and a pair of white, lo-top converse, resulting in a comfortable, matching outfit. The black leather jacket tucked under my arm belonged to Vicki...call it penance.

I sauntered in the room to find Matt still glued to screen and perched on the edge of his seat, shouting obscenities at his inanimate TV and I rolled my eyes.

"I gotta go 'unexpectedly show up' at Elena's" I told him, idly scrolling through Facebook on my phone.

He screamed one last curse word at the TV and looked at me with a frown. "What? Why?"

"Because Bonnie's been forced into some kind of get-to-know you dinner with her and Stefan." I grumbled, typing out a quick text to Bonnie before placing my phone back in my pocket. "She wants me to take some of the focus off her, I guess. And I've agreed because I'm _such_ a good friend...or a complete mug, I'm not sure which yet. I'll let you know after tonight." I laughed.

He took one last look at the TV and switched it off, placing his hands on his knees, bracing to stand and he followed me through the kitchen and to the back door. We stood for a minute, undoubtedly both remembering what was about to happen before Bonnie's phone call and I decided to confront the tension head on before it eventually turned us into bumbling idiots.

And when I say confront...

I practically leaped forward, flinging my arms around his neck and kissing him firmly on the lips.

It wasn't passionate or romantic but I didn't expect it to be either of those things. It was intended to be a message, a very obvious, clear message; I like you, now man up and do something about it.

And before I could see his reaction I was out of the door, the adrenaline vanished and the possibility that I'd just made things ten times more uncomfortable for myself and Matt, hit me when the fresh air did.

I made it to Elena's house animal bite-free and climbed the steps of her porch, my head turned to the side as I looked at the Chevy Camaro parked on her drive. Clenching my fist to hammer against the door, I jumped back when it flung open before I had the chance, revealing Bonnie's hard stare.

"Where have you been?" She demanded with her arms folded across her chest. I felt like a seven year old been scolded for playing away from the front gate.

"Never mind 'where have I been?'" I responded, my eyes wide. "What the hell was that?"

"Don't ask." She sighed, her face scrunching up in a mixture of confusion and sadness. "I just knew you were here, don't ask me how."

I refrained from rolling my eyes. Right, the psychic thing again.

I couldn't help thinking Bonnie was taking the whole supposedly witchy ancestor's spiel a little too far. I was not a believer, but if I found out I had some kind of supernatural power I was certain I wouldn't treat it as a burden. The way my life seemed to be going lately, the ability to see my screwed up shit before it actually happened to me had to be a bonus.

I just nodded, pushing past Bonnie and hanging up my jacket as she closed the door behind me.

"Is that Stefan's car outside?" I asked, Bonnie looked at me completely confused.

"Huh?"

"The cool car parked outside, whose is it?"

"That would be mine." A male voice answered from behind me. I watched Bonnie's eyes peer over my shoulder and I slowly span around. There, leaning a shoulder on the door frame, with what could only be described as an arrogant smirk plastered on his handsome face was none other than...Damon?

I pointed to him, turning my head to Bonnie. "Stranger from the bar was invited to dinner but not me?" I joked. But it wasn't entirely a joke, I was baffled as to why he was there.

"You've met?" Bonnie queried, looking between us with confusion.

"Yes, we have. We had a drink together at the Grill last night." Damon answered for me with a smile and a glance towards Bonnie before turning his attention back to me. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Raven." I told him quickly, moving on to what I thought was a valid subject. "I'm confused, what are you doing here?"

"So you don't know?" Bonnie questioned from my side.

"Know what?" I asked through gritted teeth, how hard was it to answer a simple question?

She hesitated, and then, "Damon is Caroline's new boyfriend...and Stefan's older-"

Damon moved quickly then, pushing from his leaning position and making his way towards me.

"-older, wiser, infinitely more charming...Brother." He cut her off as he smiled down at me, standing a little too close for someone I'd just met. But I couldn't help but laugh at his behaviour as he leaned further down, cupping a hand at the side of his mouth. "And Caroline isn't my Girlfriend." He whispered like he was telling me some huge secret.

"Well what is she then?" Bonnie asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"I prefer..." Damon started, casting a glance over his shoulder to Bonnie, who had moved from her position behind _me_ to stand behind _him_. "...acquaintances." He finished, looking back to me with a playful wink. "...With special benefits." I laughed again, looking him square in the eyes for the first time and amazingly, it was only then I noticed what I quickly decided was the best feature on his perfectly sculpted face. Piercing, ice blue eyes that sparkled with mirth as he grinned down at me. I didn't even attempt to move as I stared back at him, feeling his hand take mine, he lifted it to place a kiss on the back of my palm, his gaze burning into mine as he did. "Nice to meet you again, Raven." He smirked.

"Yeah." I whispered somewhat breathlessly. _Get a grip, Raven. _I chided internally whilst clearing my throat. "You too."

There was a very long pause, the two of us just stood, staring at the other before I took a step back, deciding the whole ordeal was slightly too 'Casablanca' for my taste. I averted my eyes from his and made a show of scanning the hall. Bonnie had left at some point, probably to throw up if I was correct in thinking she'd witnessed our sickly staring contest.

"Wanna take her for a spin?" He asked suddenly, I dragged my eyes back to his blue ones which so far, hadn't left my face. I frowned and he let out a small chuckle. "The 'cool car' outside?" Damon smirked, "And when I say 'take her for a spin', I mean, I drive _very_ fast, you sit back and enjoy. No one besides me drives that car...just to clear that up." He explained with a shrug.

His eyes went back to mine, studying them for my reaction. I absent mindedly wondered whether his intense eye contact was some kind of alpha male thing, or a result of the staggeringly huge amount of self-confidence he clearly possessed.

I bowed my head, looking at the floor so he couldn't see the smile which had crept onto my face, then, lifting my head back up, my eyes trailed the ceiling as I brought a finger to my chin, feigning thoughtfulness. I could see his smirk through my peripheral as he watched on with amusement then I lifted my other hand, a set of keys dangling from my finger. And I smirked as his face slowly fell, his hands patting the pockets of his leather jacket before he looked back at me in confusion.

"Looks like I'm driving."

* * *

Damon was feeling good. Not only had he gained a very obedient and weak-minded pet in the form of Caroline, but Elena had very kindly invited him inside the Gilbert household where he'd made considerable head way with Raven, thanks to his undeniable charm. All of these things had succeeded in making Stefan sweat which was an important bonus. He loved nervous Stefan, he was so much fun to play with.

His only set back had been the slap he'd just received from Elena following his failed compulsion, but that wouldn't stop him using her to his advantage, the 'misunderstanding' was easily remedied with some masterful manipulation on his part. Then, there had been Stefan's interruption of his and Raven's plan to flee Elena's boring dinner party last night, although that one didn't count, because Raven had been equally as annoyed as him that she had been denied a ride in his Camaro.

Now, _that_ girl was one mystery he was hell-bent on solving.

Elena certainly grabbed his interest but that was more to do with her freaky likeness to Katherine and hardly anything to do with her character. Raven, on the other hand, was intriguing from all angles. She wasn't like the other girls she hung out with; Elena was sensible and pure, Bonnie was firm and loyal, Caroline was naive and..._annoying. _

So far, Raven was the only one he found bearable to be around. The girl knew how to have fun, she'd shown him a glimpse of that last night when he'd allowed her to steal his car keys with a mischievous grin on her face. She was laid-back, friendly but with a barely hidden wild side and Lord knows, Damon loved his girls with a wild side. But there was something else about her that he found odd in a seventeen year old girl born into wealth; she was _very_ wary of people.

But none of this meant he liked her, it only meant he had a side project to work on.

So now, as he stood against his car amidst the horde of high-schoolers who had turned up for the football game, he leisurely scanned the crowd with a predatory smirk, looking for one pretty face in particular...and it wasn't his 'girlfriend's'. He caught sight of Stefan as he searched, looking particularly moody and only just pulling off his red football jersey. His eyes met his older brother's, and Damon offered him a taunting smile with a tilt of his bottle, shaking his head in amusement when Stefan rolled his eyes and walked away.

He eventually spotted his black-haired girlfriend, stood in front of an olive-green beetle and having what seemed to be a heated disagreement with a guy of matching hair colour. He watched as she flung her arms about with a grimace, her lips moving rapidly while the boy stood, helplessly taking it. Then she ran a hand through her hair and scowled at him, folding her arms,she said a few final words before the boy left, ramming his fist into a random car on his way.

Damon raised an eyebrow when another male football player arrived by her side, this time a blonde, and her face immediately softened. The vampire took this as his cue to partake in his fifth favourite past time, after killing, compelling, spying and been an all round smug bastard...eavesdropping.

"What did Tyler want?" Matt asked, concern evident on his face.

"To get away." Raven sighed. "I, on the other hand, wanted to chew him out for hurting Jeremy. He's such an idiot, all this over a girl he couldn't even be bothered to visit in hospital."

Matt made a sardonic 'hmph' sound. "That's Tyler, always gotta prove he's the tough guy."

"Prove he's an ass, more like." Raven muttered and the two fell into silence. The longer the quiet lasted, the more uncomfortable the two became and Raven slumped back, her bottom hitting the car bonnet as she idly picked at her fingernails.

"About last night..." He started and quick as a flash, Raven was back on her feet, her hand held out to put him on pause.

"Wait...let me explain first." Matt sighed, looking irritated. "What I did last night was really stupid and...selfish and it could have ruined everything and I am really sorry if I've made you uncomfortable." The blonde opened his mouth again to speak but Raven continued, regardless. "Truth is...I like you. But you're my friend and that matters to me a whole lot more than some crush. Even if I were prepared to put our friendship at risk for this, the timing just couldn't be worse...you're not over Elena, and, no matter how much I hate him, I'm not over Tyler and this..." Raven gestured between the two of them. "...Well, it would just be weird for everyone, wouldn't it?"

"So last night was a mistake?" Matt asked when Raven stayed quiet long enough for him to get a word in.

"Yes." She winced, unsure. "No? I don't know." Raven admitted, shaking her head. "I just know that last night I was thinking of the flip side. We get on, we both have sucky families and we're both heartbroken and kinda lonely...I guess what I was hoping yesterday was that somehow we could fool around without it affecting our friendship...but that never quite works, does it." Raven grumbled, "It's just...I can't think of a better way to get over someone who doesn't want you than by been with someone who _does_...and I'm aware of how screwed up that sounds."

Raven's eyes suddenly widened and Matt tried to interrupt only to be cut off again, he pursed his lips.

"This is all assuming you feel the same way, which I _really_ should have checked out before I said all of that. If you don't, then please, please, _please _just ignore everything you've just heard...apart from the apology part." Raven finished.

Matt just stared back at her, blank faced with his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm done by the way."

"Good." He said, glancing at the faces around them before looking back at her. "Cos you talk way too much."

Then before Raven knew what was happening, Matt's lips were hungrily covering hers, his hands moving her body by her hips to pin her against the car.

Damon raised a surprised eyebrow as he watched the pair, he wasn't sure the blonde quarterback had it in him.

But this joyful union posed as a slight problem for him, only slightly. Now Raven's time would be occupied would with her brand new beau, which left less for him. A pitiful excuse. In all honesty, he just wanted Matt out of the way. That would be dealt with accordingly.

He took a swig of his beer, not bothering listening in on their conversation when they'd pulled apart, but as soon as Matt had left and Raven turned away, Damon was in his place. She turned back around, jumping back with her hand over her chest and wide eyes.

She exhaled deeply, calming her racing heartbeat which Damon could hear and he smirked at her.

"Where the hell did you come from?" She asked, her voice a few octaves higher than it should have been.

"Over there." He replied, pointing to his car. Then he glanced at hers, he did a fake double take and stood back, pretending to admire it for the first time. "Is this yours?"

"Yeah." She nodded proudly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear while he sauntered around the car, ducking his head to look through the windows. He smiled in approval, making his way back around the other side as he ran a hand along the paintwork. "She's kinda rusty but she still runs...sometimes."

"She?" He asked, amused.

"My Grandfather bought her in '66, handed her down to my Dad when he was old enough to drive, then when _he_ died...he left her to me. They were both in love with the damn car, I couldn't just change a she to a he because it suited me, silly." She joked. "Besides, I didn't really have the heart to. It was my Dad's and I'm weirdly sentimental when it comes to him..." She trailed off, her smile fading.

He nodded with understanding but inside he was rolling his eyes. His attention was away from the car as he arrived back by her side. She was sat on the bonnet by now, her legs crossed in front of her and he quietly sat next to her, the old car sinking under his weight as he got comfortable. He lowered his half empty bottle, waving it in front of her downcast eyes. She gave him a half smile, full of appreciation as she took the bottle from him.

"Thanks." She said, taking a long drink from it.

"Was that your boyfriend?" He asked suddenly. Raven looked at him, her brow furrowed. "Blonde hair? Puppy dog eyes?" He elaborated before smirking. "Don't tell me...you've forgot about him already thanks to my unrelenting charm and charisma." She smiled, shaking her head at him. "It's okay..." He whispered behind his hand. "...I _always_ have that effect on women."

She choked on her beer, holding a hand under her nose and mouth to prevent liquid from spurting out of both. She gulped and then burst into laughter. A throaty giggle so infectious, Damon had to mentally slap himself when he smiled without telling himself to.

"Wow." He chuckled, watching as she wiped at her watery eyes while her laughter subsided. "Your laugh is so..." He paused, searching for the right words. "..._dirty_." Damon finished with a teasing smirk.

"You shouldn't be flirting with me." Raven pointed out through another laugh. He made a thoughtful 'hmm' noise and she raised an eyebrow to give him a pretend warning look. "Caroline might just scratch my eyes out."

Okay, now? He kind of liked her. If you called not wanting to torture and kill a person, _liking_ them. If he'd had the same conversation with Elena, he'd be rubbing a sore hand-shaped mark on the side of his face around the time he suggested she'd forgotten about her boyfriend. But Raven just...laughed.

"I think I could persuade her not to." Damon muttered under his breath as he stood. "What about Matt? Think he'd engage me in a round of fisticuffs over you?" He asked, pulling up his fists and jabbing the air.

She giggled again, shaking her head. "Matt's not my boyfriend. He's a friend..."Raven rolled her eyes around her head in thought. "...with special benefits." She smirked, mimicking his words from the night before.

"Good." Damon nodded, his fists falling to his sides and he stepped closer, blue eyes meeting brown as he stared down at her. "Because I think you can do better."

Her smile crumpled and she pushed him away, sliding from the bonnet and onto her feet, accidentally leaving next to no space between them. He smirked, glancing down appreciatively at their bodies which were almost pressed against each other, but she didn't back down.

"You don't even know him." She scowled, "You don't know _me_."

Damon held up his arms in surrender, backing away a few steps.

"You're right." He said, his half-apology broke no ground though and she shook her head in disgust, moving around him to walk away. He swiftly grabbed her upper arm, spinning her back around to face him and pulling her close.

He grinned down at her. Her wavy black hair was blowing wildly in the wind, strands of it latching onto her long eyelashes, her painted red lips were pursed together, her jaw tight and her chocolate brown eyes were burning into his. She looked even hotter when furious, he noted.

Something behind his own eyes shifted, his pupils dilating to an abnormal size. He watched with satisfaction as she stopped looking quite so mad, her expression turning from anger to inquisitive. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

"Whoa." She breathed, causing him to frown in confusion. "Your eyes just did the weirdest thing."

He released his grip on her, shaking his head from side to side before looking back to her. She wasn't curious any more, just annoyed. She rolled her eyes and turned, walking over to Bonnie.

Damon was confused.

Elena's resistance to his compulsion was explained in one word...Stefan. But Raven's definitely wasn't. He knew from eavesdropping on the council members that Marie Alessio had never turned up to any of their meetings, only the parties. And he very much doubted Stefan was desperate enough to have begun spiking all of Elena's friends with vervain.

He rolled his eyes, Raven Alessio was turning out to be more mysterious then _he_ was.


	6. Chapter 5

The doorbell rang for the third time in a row and I sighed from my place on my bed. I dropped my notebook to the floor with annoyance, my pen following it and I stormed across my bedroom, flinging my door open.

I passed by Kennedy's room on my way to the stairs. Her door was wide open and she was sat at her dressing table in a silky, hot pink night-robe, filing her nails whilst singing along to Katy Perry. Ugh, I shook my head as I traipsed down the staircase. Before I answered the door however, I peaked into the dining room after hearing raised voices. My Mother was arguing with her hair stylist whilst flicking through a book of style options at one end of the long dining table and Sofia was simultaneously negotiating times the make-up artist, who was waiting impatiently to one side, could begin working on each of us _and_ flicking through a rail of party dresses that had been brought by two smartly dressed men, both of which were casting awkward glances to one another.

All this for The Founders party.

The door bell sounded again.

"I'll get it." I yelled above the noise. Not one person acknowledged I was even there. "Not like I'm trying do homework or anything." I muttered, pulling open the front door.

Oh, why didn't I ignore it like everyone else in my household had?

"What do _you_ want?" I asked sceptically.

Tyler just did his usual 'I'm bored' face and rolled his eyes.

"Mom's forced me to do the rounds." He mumbled, "I gotta pick up your Founders stuff."

I nodded curtly, leaving him standing like an idiot on the porch as I ventured into the noisy dining room. Picking up a box from the table and heading back, I held Tyler's gaze with disinterest as I dumped the box on to his waiting arms. He took a deep breath, preparing to talk. I slammed the door in his face.

After a long shower, I emerged from my bathroom to find a frazzled, red-headed woman, laying out an assortment of brushes on my bed and there was a crow (!?), perched on the ledge of my open window.

"What are we going for tonight?" The woman asked, forcing a smile at me. The poor woman looked ready to drop. No surprise, after probably been run ragged by my Mother for the last two hours.

"Um...I'm not sure." I replied adjusting the towel covering my naked body and glancing at the crow, which seemed to be staring at me? "Loose curls?"

She looked relieved that she didn't have to struggle with my long hair to concoct an elaborate up-do, the likes of which I would bet every penny of my inheritance on, that My Mother and Sister were going to be sporting tonight.

"I'll just set up." She told me and I nodded absent-mindedly, my bare feet moving carefully across the floor in the direction of the window. "I tried to shoo it away." The woman said from behind me. "It won't budge."

"No, it's fine." I smiled to myself, looking down at the bird, which hadn't moved despite me been stood right above it. I slowly bent my knees to crouch down and held a finger out close to it's feet. "C'mon birdie." I whispered softly, laughing in surprise when it edged towards my finger, before wrapping all of it's black claws tightly around it. The bird suddenly hopped to perch onto my wrist, as though it knew my forefinger wouldn't be able to hold it's weight and I held up my arm, gently straightening my legs to stand.

The stylist was looking on with wide eyes and I smiled back proudly, feeling every bit the Disney princess.

Sofia appeared at my bedroom doorway, her permanent kind smile fading to a frown and the crow stretched it's wings before taking off through the open window. I stared after it then looked back to Sofia.

"That bird did _not_ like you." I laughed. Sofia smiled but for the first time, and in all the time I'd known her, the gesture looked unnatural on her face. Her eyes travelled down to my bare feet and back to my face in quick succession.

"Where is your anklet?" She questioned, moving towards me, worry etched on her soft features.

"The Lockwood's have it." I replied, like it was obvious. "For the display?"

"Leave us." She ordered the stylist, without so much as glance in her direction. When the red-head had complied, Sofia grabbed hold of my shoulders,forcing me to face her, silver eyes looking at me with a sense of urgency. "Raven, it is extremely important you retrieve that anklet once the party is over."

"But...why?"

"Because." She hesitated, "It meant a lot to your Father that you wear it."

I smiled, shaking my head. I really couldn't see the problem.

"But it's still mine, Sofia. It's just in a display cabinet instead of around my ankle." I argued. "If anything, It's probably safer-."

"No." She stopped me harshly, my brow furrowed. "It is not safer for _you_." She insisted, her eyes didn't move from mine and she eventually sighed, her face softening to a tender smile. An expression I finally recognised on her. "Just...get it back." She pleaded. "Trust me." I nodded as she smiled back at me, then she was out of the door, the red-head arriving back with a blow-drier and a look of hopefulness.

"Shall we get started?"

* * *

It was a beautiful summers afternoon, the colourful dresses and smart attire making the scene outside the house all the more colourful. The soft harmonics of a violin drifting gently through the air, barely been heard amongst the buzz of idle chatter. It had to be said, the Lockwood family really were masters at hosting these kinds of things. These events might have been mind numbingly boring, but the amount of effort that had been made and the sophistication in which they were presented couldn't be ignored.

Lockwood Mansion was the last place Raven wanted to be, considering her recent messy split from Tyler. But unfortunately, her surname dictated she had to be there, along with the other founding families. This party was the beginning of a spate of elaborate events, all of which she would be forced to attend. If not by obligation, then by her Mother, who was determined to push Raven into wealthy circles.

It was never going to work. Raven couldn't think of anything worse than having to attend the dull events Kennedy did for the rest of her life, and the men her sister dated?...just no. Sitting pretty while a man boasted of his success and bored her with business talk, It wasn't her.

Just like this party wasn't her.

"So, why didn't you ask Matt to this thing?" Bonnie asked with a teasing smile as she and Raven walked side by side, slowly making their way up the busy steps leading to the magnificent Lockwood mansion.

"Because we're not dating." Raven replied evenly, glancing at her friend and noticing her disbelieving expression, a shapely black eyebrow raised in amusement. "We're not." She insisted again. "We're just friends...who fool around."

"You sound like Damon." Bonnie pointed out playfully.

"Urgh, Please don't mention him." She shuddered mockingly, "The guy creeps me out."

"...And now you sound like Elena." Bonnie joked, her lips pulled into a rigid smile as she waved at Carol Lockwood, who was stood by the upcoming doorway. In the same moment Carol looked away, Bonnie's smile dropped and she exhaled, looking to her friend, she lowered her voice. "You ready for this?"

"Nope." Raven replied through gritted teeth, displaying a fake grin as they arrived before Carol.

"Raven!" Carol cooed with outstretched arms.

"Hi Carol." She greeted as the woman pulled her into a tight hug. Her eyes went to Tyler who was standing a little behind his Mother, and watching with what Raven quickly deciphered as regret, at his Mother's interaction with his ex-girlfriend.

"I haven't seen you in weeks." Carol said, pulling back from the embrace to look at Raven. She shrugged at her and looked fleetingly back at Tyler, in time to see him bow his head and walk away.

"I've been busy...with school and stuff." Raven replied, getting the message that Carol had no idea about her son's indiscretions. As much as she hated Tyler, she wouldn't drop him in it...Carol was almost as domineering as her own Mother. She knew this from first hand experience; hours of listening to Carol as she marvelled how beautiful Raven and Tyler's children could be. Raven refused to do that to Tyler, especially at this party, they were both already in for one hell of a crappy night.

Carol nodded. "Well you must find me later. We'll catch up." She smiled warmly at her before finally acknowledging the girl by her side. "Ah, Hello Bonnie."

"Hi, Mrs Lockwood." Bonnie answered politely.

Carol smiled back before turning her attention back to Raven. "Tyler said you'd decided to help out a dateless friend instead of coming with him."

Wow, Tyler was pushing it.

Raven saw Bonnie's smile drop and she looped her arms through hers. "I'll speak to you soon, Carol." She excused, guiding Bonnie away from the tactless woman.

"What a bitch." Bonnie muttered as the pair stepped further into the expensively furnished mansion foyer, arms linked as they both scanned the crowds for faces they knew.

From across the bustling room, Damon's eyes landed on a pair of black haired girls as he effortlessly ignored Caroline's incessant chatter. He smirked, it seemed the teenage girls of Mystic Falls could really scrub up well. Both girls had matching hair styles, loose waves cascading over their shoulders, the only difference been that Raven's almost reached the middle of her rib cage whilst Bonnie's ended below her shoulders. The African-american girl was wearing a modest, strappy cream number with a pretty flower design and Raven had on a simple,white skater dress that complimented her olive skin tone. It was the latter who held his focus, his eyes lazily trailing from her head all the way down to her feet.

"Stop talking." Damon casually demanded of Caroline as he tore his eyes away from Raven to look at the blonde and her jaw snapped shut. He inclined his head towards the doorway. "Raven and Bonnie are over there."

Caroline followed his line of sight and shrugged, "So?" She asked, straightening the lapel of his jacket and resting her hands either side of his chest, she smiled up at him. "I'm here with _you_, I can talk to them _any-time_."

He grabbed a hold of each of her hands to remove them, clasping her fingers while staring into her blue eyes. "You should go and talk to Bonnie...privately. Tell Raven there's free champagne at the bar."

"Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Bonnie." Caroline told him brightly.

"Okay!" Damon chimed with a beaming smile, "You have fun, now." He drawled as he watched her walk away.

"Caroline, thank God." Raven sighed as the blue eyed blonde came to stand in front of them. "I were beginning to think we were the youngest ones here."

"I need to talk to you...in private." Caroline directed at Bonnie after acknowledging Raven with a friendly smile. Bonnie nodded, silently sending a questioning look to her cheerleader friend.

"Please be kidding me." Raven groaned. "You're leaving me on my own?"

Bonnie looked at Raven apologetically as Caroline grabbed a hold of her wrist.

"We'll be right back." Caroline promised as she steered a confused Bonnie away. But the blonde hesitated, looking back at Raven. "You know, they've got free champagne at the bar." She informed her, her voice rising in a persuasive lilt.

Raven's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Well, why didn't you say so...take as long as you need." She shrugged innocently and ignoring Bonnie's eye-roll, she began pushing her way through the groups of people. As she entered the main hall, a waiter carrying a silver tray crossed her path and she swiped a flute of champagne while he walked. She then made her way to the bar, pressing her back against it to look out onto the room, she placed her elbows on the surface behind her, her drink sitting firmly between her fingers.

"You look like an Angel in white." A sultry voice whispered in her ear and she turned to see Damon smirking back at her, adopting an identical stance to hers.

She scoffed, her eyes leaving his to roam across the immaculately groomed guests. "And the award for lamest pick up line goes to..." she trailed off, her head lolling to the side to look at him.

"It wasn't my best." He shrugged casually, seemingly unaffected by her derisive comment. "Thankfully," He began, moving to stand in front of her. "What I lack for in nuance, I more than make up for in...other ways." His eyebrows jerked suggestively.

She was dying to laugh, he could tell.

"Really?" She pursed her lips, then gave him a feigned look of confusion. "You'll have to point out these redeeming features you speak of, I must be missing them."

"Ouch." His head reeled back in shock, clearly amused and feeling oddly impressed. "Well aren't you feisty." He commented, "I like it." Damon snapped with a slightly crazed look in his eyes that strangely, made him no less attractive.

Raven just stared at his face blankly, her eyes gradually narrowing with an intensity that almost made him uncomfortable. She was openly studying him, and when her face fell with a look akin to sudden recognition, her body automatically moving from the bar to look up at him with those wide eyes, he consciously made sure to stay relaxed.

"What did Elena do to you?" She asked with interest, her voice barely above a whisper.

For the first time ever, Damon had no clever reply. She had caught him completely off guard with that one and he looked at her with confusion. One; Elena hadn't done anything to him. If anything, it was more a question of what Damon was going to do to Elena, Two; where had that question even come from?

He opened his mouth to retort but lingered, when-

"There you are!"

Ah, saved by the squeaky voiced cheerleader.

Both Damon and Raven turned their heads to see Caroline bounding over to the two. Raven, realising her close proximity to Damon, took a step back.

"People are dancing." The blonde declared, throwing Damon a gleeful smile as she looped her arm through his. Bonnie arrived to the group seconds later with a lot less vigour.

"Very astute of you, honey." Damon replied as he humoured her with his own happy smile, glancing at Raven as he did to find her looking at him with raised eyebrows. Unlike Caroline, it seemed she wasn't buying into the act. He ignored her and his eyes went to the numerous couples in the centre of the room who were quite obviously...dancing. "Tell me, how did you figure it out?"

Raven noticed Bonnie saunter off as Caroline giggled, swatting Damon on the arm while he grinned back.

"It was a hint." Caroline rolled her eyes. She waited, looking at Damon expectantly as he took a sip of his drink, eyes idly scanning the dancing couples. "Soooo," She started, tugging at his arm. "Do you wanna dance?"

Raven glanced away, feeling like a very awkward third wheel. Damon was purposely making this difficult for her friend.

"I'm not one for the Waltz." He excused. "More of a Tango kind of guy." Damon looked at Raven, winking flirtatiously as he mentioned what was commonly known as the sexiest style of dance.

He laughed to himself when she rolled her eyes and guzzled the rest of her champagne in one.

"How about you, Rae-Rae?" Caroline asked.

Raven looked to her friend with a frown, Damon was grinning at her from Caroline's side mouthing 'Rae-Rae?' with a look of pure delight. She urged herself to not take the bait.

"Dance to this?" Raven questioned disbelievingly. "Caroline, they're playing Beethoven."

"Whatever, come on!" Caroline huffed, stamping her foot and pouting like a petulant child.

"Do you know who _loves_ to dance?" Damon put in slyly, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes as he paused."...Stefan." He said simply. Unlinking Caroline's arm from his, he leaned forward to look straight into her eyes, Raven watching on in suspicion. "You should go and ask Stefan to dance."

Raven looked at Caroline, all the light gone from her blue eyes as she nodded with a shrug."I'll go and ask Stefan to dance."

Damon kissed his blonde pet on the cheek, watching with satisfaction as she headed away in search of Stefan. His younger brother _hated_ dancing...It was a small victory, but Damon would take all he could get.

In all the excitement, he almost forgot about the girl stood staring at him. His eyes flicked over to her to see her standing, arms folded with a mistrustful gaze sent in his direction.

"Alone at last, _Rae-Rae._" He taunted with a lopsided smirk.

"I know what you're doing" She ignored him, taking a step closer.

"You can recognise Beethoven by ear?" He ignored her back, also taking a step forward.

If she wanted to play the intimidation game, Damon would always win.

"She may not see it but I do."

"Rare for a girl your age." He continued from his earlier comment with a thoughtful, faraway expression. "Do you know the song?"

"Moonlight Sonata" She answered,"...you're a creep."

"Beautiful _and_ cultured." Damon smirked as he smoothly grabbed two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter. He took a sip of one, holding the other out for Raven."You continue to surprise me."

"And you continue to prove all my points." She shot back whilst accepting the drink.

He rolled his eyes at her. "You have a comeback for everything don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess that's one thing we have in common."

A ghost of a smirk appeared on Raven's lips that almost stopped Damon asking his next question. Raven was toying with him. She was doing it in her own challenging way; full of suspicion and distrust but it was there nevertheless. She might have been questioning his motives but she was having fun whilst doing it and Damon liked that. The fact that she didn't need to be stone-faced and and stern in order to mark his card was refreshing, he fleetingly considered she would make an exceptional vampire.

He flashed her a quick, tight lipped smile."So, enlighten me." His eyes roamed about the room before they settled on Raven's flawless face. "What exactly am I 'doing' with Caroline?"

"You're playing her, manipulating her." She explained confidently and casually. "I don't know why and I have no idea why she's letting you but _that_ is what's happening here. If it were any other guy I'd say you were just using her for sex...but for some reason, that doesn't suit you."

He raised his eyebrows before quickly letting them drop into a frown, deep in concentration while he examined her as she patiently waited for his response. She had good reason to look slightly smug which she undeniably did right now, for she was right. He _was_ playing Caroline, he was compelling her, which in essence, _was_ manipulation and he _was_ using her for so much more than sex.

But she couldn't possibly know that.

"Maybe I enjoy her company. Her energy, her positive outlook, her...stimulating conversation." He dead-panned with a sardonic grin.

"No, see that right there. You're mocking her...to her face and to her friend." He scoffed at her. "Yeah, it might surprise you because me and Caroline are _nothing_ alike but I love her to bits..." Damon couldn't help rolling his eyes, but they widened when she stepped even closer to him. She placed her hands on her hips in defiance, looking straight into his eyes so he could receive her next sentence clearly, "...so you better not hurt her, Damon."

She casually brought the champagne glass to her lips as she held his eye contact with assurance. He was impressed; she'd engaged him in quick witted banter, unknowingly but accurately hit the nail on the head in regards to his intentions with her friend and now, now she had delivered him a warning like it was nothing.

His face gradually lit up into his signature smirk. "Wanna dance?"

She did what he'd hoped she'd do and laughed, shaking her head as she looked into her glass. He watched as she swilled the contents of it then tipped her head back, draining the remainder of her drink. She sighed and strolled past him, he turned with her, frowning when she held a finger up to the sky.

"Clair de lune is a dance for couples or lovers, Mr Salvatore..." She said and Damon realised she had been gesturing to song now playing. She turned back to him, stepping away slowly in reverse. "...and we're neither."

With that she turned and walked away, her smile growing with each step she took away from him.

Damon was fun. Arrogant, definitely untrustworthy, slightly creepy but...fun. Raven felt like she was evenly matched in his company, he seemed to be able to take anything she threw at him, regardless how harsh it was, and shrug it off. It was obvious he could not care less what anyone thought of him, a quality Raven also possessed.

Raven did not trust Damon as far as she could throw him, but she _did_ like him.

* * *

_Damon was dragging a hysterical Caroline across the grounds of the Lockwood Mansion, the hum of laughter, chatter and music from the party becoming more and more distant the further they went. The house eventually disappeared behind the trees and Damon stopped, angrily forcing Caroline round to face him._

_"Don't! She took it off and I got flustered, okay? I didn't know what to say but I swear, okay, I did not tell her. I just told her that you didn't mean to hurt me." Caroline told him hurriedly, her voice and body language consumed by pure panic._

_She breathed unevenly as Damon looked back at her before he sighed in frustration, calmly circling her as she stood, rigid. He moved behind her, bringing her back to press against his chest._

_"You make me crazy, you know that?" He whispered in her ear as he caressed her neck. "It's okay, I forgive you."_

_Caroline softened slightly, her body reacting to his touch in place of his anger._

_"I swear I didn't say-"_

_"Shh, shh, shh, It's okay." He interrupted soothingly. "Unfortunately...I am so over you now."_

_His face changed in an instant and in the same moment his teeth clamped down on Caroline's neck, she screamed, fresh blood seeping from the small gap between his lips and her flesh._

_Then, Caroline's body fell limply to the lawn._

With a sharp gasp, my eyes snapped open. My breathing jagged as I took in the happy faces of the Founders party guests surrounding me. I swiped at the tears that had fallen down my cheek, letting my gaze drift to a dark corner of the enormous garden.

I stared at it, debating with myself whether to check it out, if only just to ease my mind. It had to be the alcohol...but it felt so _real_.

Without a second thought I headed over, ignoring Tyler when he shouted my name and jogging down the steps that led from the porch. I hesitantly stepped past the trees, glancing back to the people at the party as I left it behind and when I turned my head back forward, I froze.

There, laying face down in the grass, was my friend.

I couldn't move. I couldn't think. My vision blurred as I stared off, the tears welling up in my eyes impeding my vision.

This could have been prevented, _I_ could have prevented this. Suddenly, the nightmares and strange vibes were not a joke, they weren't something to be taken lightly or brushed off and I _wasn't_ going crazy. They were signs. I couldn't explain how, but someone or some_thing_ had sent me a warning.

"Rae?" A voice came from behind me but I stayed firmly in my spot, staring at Caroline's motionless body while never really seeing it. Something shifted in front of me, through the tears I noticed someone leaning by my friend's side and then I was staring at a blur of black.

"Raven?" The voice asked again, I felt hands lightly grab my shoulders to shake me gently. My eyes snapped to Stefan's face, red hot tears finally spilling over my cheeks. "Are you okay?"

I looked past him to Caroline, nodding my head with wide horrified eyes before looking back at him and then, a second wave of confusion/fear set in as I remembered a specific detail I'd somehow forgotten due to the shock.

Damon had done this. The man who persuaded Rob to serve me in the grill, the man who'd offered to take me out in his flashy car, the man who had flirted shamelessly with me every chance he got, the man who I'd initially thought was _extremely_ hot with pretty eyes. He had done this to my friend... by _biting_ her.

"Raven, did you hear me?" Stefan's voice pulled me from my thoughts and I forced my eyes to re-focus on his concerned face. I shook my head no and he bent his knee's, hands still on my shoulders as he looked up into my eyes. "You should go home." He said firmly and I found myself nodding to agree with him. "I'll take care of Caroline and you will see her at school tomorrow, just like normal...I promise."

I looked into his green eyes a moment longer, finding myself trusting him completely and then, like I had no control over my own body, I turned, walking steadily across the vast grounds in the direction of my house.

I practically crashed through my front door, slamming it shut behind me. I ran up the stairs and straight into my room, locking the door behind me and kicking off those damn heels. I began pacing the room, my trembling hands sweeping back my hair and running over my damp face in panicked, aimless motions.

My mind felt like it wasn't my own. I shouldn't have left Caroline, I should be with her right now but _something_ was telling me not to and no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to justify going back to her. _Stefan will take care of her, I'll see her at school tomorrow...just like normal._

Only this was anything but normal. It was very, very_ abnormal._ I blew out a steadying breath and sat on the edge of my bed, my knees bobbing up and down in anticipation and my face scrunched up, more tears soon followed. Stefan didn't know what I'd seen moments before, he didn't know that his older Brother was responsible. This was probably going to be dismissed as yet another animal attack, meanwhile Stefan was sharing his home with the _real_ anim-

My legs were no longer shaking, my face effectively un-scrunched itself and my sobbing was put on pause. Sudden realisation is odd...the type that hits you before you've even finished your train of thought, It can either shock you rigid or make every muscle in your body relax in the most un-relaxed way possible.

_Animal attack._

And that's when it hit.

_"'Cos last night she was completely freaked, started screaming and stuff...she said it was a...a vampire."_

_"...a vampire."_

Matt's words echoed through my mind and suddenly it made perfect sense. But it couldn't be...I wasn't a believer, Monsters didn't exist.

But I couldn't take the chance.

I jumped from my bed and hastily opened my door, running through the house with as much urgency as when I'd arrived. I was at the bottom of the stairs, almost in reach of the front door, when Sofia sidestepped into my vision and blocked my path. She stood casually, her hands clasped in front of her body.

I was breathing heavily by this point, virtually gasping for breath as Sofia's studious gaze trailed from my face right down to my bare feet. She seemed to bypass my distressed state and went straight to more 'important' matters.

"Your anklet is missing." She stated.

I looked down to my feet and realised I had nothing on them, "Something came up." I explained distractedly, as I rushed over to the shoe rack and began an unusually stressful battle with some black ballet pumps. "I'll get it okay just...goddamn pumps!" I yelled, my shaking hands and the eruption of thoughts in my brain making it extremely difficult to do menial tasks like putting on shoes. I sighed when my foot slipped in and turned to Sofia with renewed determination to get the anklet argument out of the way. "I will get it, I promise...I will. But right now I have something more important to deal with."

"I think you fail to realise how important _this_ is." She challenged.

Now, she was pissing me off.

"You know what? You're right...I do. So why don't you explain it to me." I folded my arms and waited, she opened her mouth but nothing came out which told me all I needed to know."Exactly."

"Raven, pleas-"

"It's a just a piece of jewellery Sofia!" I yelled, interrupting her. Realising I'd raised my voice to Sofia for the first time,I shrunk back but maintained my determination to end the row. "Yes, it's a family heirloom or whatever and I love it, I really, really do. It _is_ important to me but right now, it's sat inside a glass cabinet in the Lockwood Mansion and it is not going anywhere." I reached past her to open the front door, looking back to her with a sigh."I'm Sorry...but there's somewhere I have to be"

* * *

"She almost saw, Stefan-" Damon taunted through a groan.

"-But she didn't" Stefan cut in as he dragged Damon through the cellar by his feet.

"That's right," He agreed weakly. "Kudos on snapping my neck...and throwing me in the...bushes. Masterfully handled...She still saw Caroline."

Stefan leaned over his helpless Brother, plucking the daylight ring from his finger as looked into Damon's tired blue eyes.

"I'll explain it." He shrugged, dropping the ring in his pocket and turning to leave.

"You mean..."Damon started, wincing from the exertion of speaking."...Stefan the...martyr will lie?"

"If I have to. To protect her...and Elena."

Stefan stepped out of the cell, finalizing their exchange. But his older Brother always had to have the last word, even on the edge of dessication.

"Rewind." Damon bit out, causing Stefan to stop in his tracks. He didn't look back at him but he knew from the pained sounds and shuffling that Damon was clambering to his feet. "To protect _her..._Her meaning...Raven." Stefan turned to see Damon was now leaning on the bars, a knowing smile pushing through the pained grimace on his face. "You see it...too, don't you brother? She is...special."

The youngest Salvatore took a step forward, coming eye to eye with his brother.

"She is innocent. Too pure to be tainted by someone like _you_."

Damon chuckled sarcastically. His laughter became hoarse coughing and he let his back fall against the bars, slowly sliding down to sit on the ground.

"Oh she is...far from innocent...definitely not pure. "He choked out, his voice becoming more and more incoherent with every word. "That's what...drew...me in. Raven has...darkness in her...and...with...with _my_ help...she'll learn..to embrace...it."

Damon's hand fell limply to his side and Stefan knew he'd finally succumbed to exhaustion. Maybe now _he'd_ get the last word.

"Not from here she won't." He whispered, turning on his heel, he began to walk through the cold cellar.

"Katherine." He heard Damon mumble sleepily and he looked over his shoulder to his brother, who was now laying on his side."She has fire...like...Katherine."

Of course it was about Katherine. For Damon, it always was. Stefan hoped he never would have to encounter anyone _ever_ again that bared resemblance in character to Katherine. She was manipulative, selfish, ridiculously high maintenance and cruel; that wasn't fire, that was called been a bitch.

He sighed when he reached the house, running a hand through his hair while walking into the sitting room, he felt like the worst person ever. The last thing he wanted was to watch his brother rot in the basement of their house, but Damon really hadn't given him much choice. He'd carelessly left a trail of drained, chewed up bodies, he'd turned Caroline into his own personal slave, he'd been invited in to Elena's home and Stefan knew, from listening in on their conversations, that he was slowly worming his way into Raven's good graces.

It was the latter two which had Stefan sweating. Damon had took a special interest in both girls; Elena because she looked like Katherine and Raven because she reminded him of Katherine. It was a problem ,and Stefan couldn't allow Damon's unpredictability to endanger either of them, so this was the answer for now. Damon had to be stopped.

Stefan's head whipped round to the front of the house on hearing the faint sound of a human heartbeat and he ventured out into the hall, staring patiently at the front door.

He heard hurried footsteps and when the first few panicked knocks rapped noisily on the wood, he was there within the blink of an eye, opening the door to reveal a bedraggled Raven.

He was momentarily stunned. It seemed Damon was right about one thing, his compulsion really was weak.

Stefan took in the tear stained face, puffy red eyes and the myriad of expressions present on her face; confusion, disbelief, sadness...terror. Terror. That one expression told Stefan all he needed to know...Raven had seen more than he'd thought.

"Is Damon home?" She asked.

Stefan shook his head.

"Good." She nodded, relief practically rolling off her in waves. "We need to talk."


	7. Chapter 6

I sat nervously in a plush red chair, looking over what I assumed to be the sitting room of the Salvatore boarding house. It was pretty awesome, decorated in warm reds, greens and mahogany wood, furnished like how I imagined an English stately home would have been back in the 19th century.

It was a strange though, for a boy of seventeen and a man in his early twenties. There was no TV, no computer, in fact no electrical goods of any kind, just shelves upon shelves of leather bound books, several writing desks and a beautiful grand piano that I was itching to play.

Stefan arrived back, glass of water in hand and he tentatively passed it over.

I smiled gratefully, the coldness of the glass forcing a shiver down my spine and my eyes looked to the enormous fireplace, the flames dimly smouldering underneath.

"You think you could get that going again?" I asked, after taking a gulp of water.

Stefan followed my sight-line and nodded, shifting over to the fire. He grabbed a few logs which were piled to the side and threw them on, he used the fire iron to poke at the burning wood before he walked back over, grabbing a blanket which was strewn over the back of one of the chairs on his way.

He moved round the back of my chair and I jumped when I felt the blanket fall on my shoulders. I pulled it further around my body, giving him a questioning look as he took the seat opposite.

"It takes a while to warm up." He explained, uneasily scratching the back of his neck. "So...what do we need to talk about?"

I felt my eyebrows raise involuntarily. Had Stefan got short term memory loss?

"How about we start with Caroline?"I exhaled, placing my water on the coffee table between us."How is she?"

"She's fine, you don't need to worry." He reassured with a comforting smile that for some reason, had the exact opposite effect. "She just had a little too much to drink tonight."

"What?" My eyes widened in disbelief. "Stefan, there was blood on her dress."

"No there wasn't." He laughed nervously and stood, walking over to an antique looking drinks table and began rooting through the various decanters.

"Yes." I argued, turning to watch him with a frown. "There was, I _saw_ it."

"You were in shock...and buzzed from the champagne." Stefan dismissed as he moved away from the collection of alcoholic drinks without one in his hand.

He was stalling.

"That doesn't explain what I saw-"

"-Trick of the light?" Stefan shrugged, his back to me as he poked at the fire."Your mind playing games-"

I suddenly got to my feet, the blanket falling from my shoulders and onto the floor. His posture stiffened, like he knew I was becoming more and more confrontational.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked quietly. "Why are you trying to make me question it?"

"I'm not-" He began, turning around to face me.

"I saw something else tonight." I stopped him, gaining his full attention. "Something I can't explain, and I came to you because I felt I needed to warn you...but now I'm starting to feel like you could shed some light on it instead. I saw Damon with Caroline, they were having some kind of disagreement and it was...it was like they were stood _right_ in front of me. And then..." I trailed off, tears welling up in my eyes as I relived the vivid memory.

He took a few steps closer, placing an encouraging hand on my shoulder.

"Then what?"

I forced my eyes to meet his green ones, scared how he'd react to what I was about to reveal.

"...then Damon bit her." I told him with my shaky voice. "That's when it ended...and I was back at the party. Then I found Caroline, in _exactly_ the same place she'd been with Damon, on the floor, covered in blood...and she _was_ covered in blood, Stefan."

I gave him a minute of silence, allowing the information to sink in, but the longer I looked into his eyes, the more uncertain I felt. Then, the electric shock I was becoming so familiar with struck me tenfold and I wasn't looking at his jade-green eyes any more. Instead I saw Elena, then Damon. I saw Caroline's pale face and Stefan leaning over her, forcing his wrist to her mouth. I saw blood, lots of blood and Damon's features crumpled up in agony. Then there was Stefan again, dragging his Brother's weakened body by the ankles over a hard stone floor.

I was back in the room, and hyperventilating while Stefan watched me with anguish. My face felt damp again and I knew the images I'd seen had inadvertently forced fresh tears to the surface.

My eyes met his again, recognition washing over me.

"...You know." I accused through my laboured breathing before looking deeper into his eyes."No." I corrected, shaking my head. "You're one of them."

He looked completely dumbfounded as I ripped myself away from his grasp, backing away from him slowly before turning and tearing through the house.

"No, no, no, Raven...Wait!" I heard him shout over the terrified whimpers escaping my throat as I ran. Something sped past my side in a blur and then Stefan was in front of me. "I can't let you leave." He said.

"Please-" I begged, backing up from him again as he matched my steps to come closer.

"Hey, look at me. I'm not going to hurt you, I swear." Some kind of squeaking sound came from me as he carried on his approach, his palms held by his head in a gesture of surrender "...But I can't let you leave until I explain."He lowered his hands slowly, giving me a look of seriousness as he watched me quietly sob in front of his eyes."Have I ever done anything to make you think I'm a bad guy?" I gulped, hesitantly shaking my head to reply in the negative."Then trust me...give me half an hour to explain."

I looked at the door and back at him helplessly. Stefan hadn't given me any reason to deem him untrustworthy but I really didn't desire to sit and have my head mashed with things way beyond my comprehension. Although what could I do? Attempt to out-run someone who had just demonstrated I could never escape him? Challenge a possible vampire to a fight?

"How?" I stammered, unsure what I was even asking. "...How is this even possible?...this can't be real...none of this is real." I decided, bringing my trembling hands to rub my face while I mumbled on. "This is a nightmare...it has to be...just one long nightmare and I'm gonna wake up any minute. I am...I'm gonna wake up and you and Damon are gonna be gone and..and-"

"-Hey hey hey, slow down." Stefan cut my nonsensical rambling off, pulling at my forearm to bring me closer to him, his hand pushing the back of my head to lean my face into his shoulder. I whimpered into his shirt before my cries slowly subsided, the hand stroking my hair had a calming effect on me. Even if it was a vampire hand. I sniffled and leaned back, looking up at his kind face. "I'll tell you everything you want to know...I promise."

* * *

Stefan contemplated the next few hours as he stirred Raven's excessive three sugars into her coffee. He had been expecting a relatively quiet night with the absence of Damon. Maybe read a book, write in his journal, have a conversation with Zach...he hadn't been expecting to have volunteered himself up for interrogation.

He dreaded the day he'd have to explain all this to Elena. Because the day would undoubtedly come, but for now, It was Raven's turn. Although the situation wasn't perfect, it was a blessing that Raven seemed to be more open minded than his girlfriend and obviously, not as human as she thought, he viewed this as a considerably easier practice round leading up to main event.

But that thought was lost when he paused at the sitting room doorway and saw Raven. She was leaned back into the chair Damon normally occupied, a hand on each arm of it, one slender leg slung over the other and staring into the flames of the fire with a tense jaw. He could only see her side profile, but he knew just from that angle she had gone from terrified to upset and now she was angry. Raven wanted answers...and Stefan had promised she'd get them.

He approached her quietly, clearing his throat when he arrived by her chair and holding out her coffee, which she accepted with an expressionless face and no words of gratitude. Stefan nodded to himself, glancing around the room to decide where would be the best place for him to sit. He chose the chair adjacent to hers, the huge fire surround in front of them separating the two chairs evenly.

There was a long beat of silence in which Stefan slurped his coffee, eyeing Raven from the side as she cradled hers in her lap.

"Are you a..." She exhaled a humourless laugh, like she didn't believe the words she was about to say. Her eyes still trained on the fire while he looked at her expectantly. "...Are you a vampire?"

"Yes." Stefan answered without hesitation.

Raven closed her eyes and nodded. "And Damon?"

"I think you know the answer to that one."

She scoffed,"Well, you see, Stefan...I really don't. We're talking about _vampires_ here, next you'll be telling me that Santa exists." Raven stood, folding her arms over her chest as she paced the rug by the fire. "How did you...I mean, when?..." She stuttered then sighed, frustrated. "I don't even know what to ask, this is crazy." Flopping back onto her chair, she looked at Stefan."So, what you're like a good vampire?" She spat, sarcasm lacing her voice.

"All vampires have the capacity to be good." He informed her.

"Oh yeah? Then what crawled up Damon's ass and died?" She asked, standing once again and pacing restlessly. "'Cos that son of a bitch is far from good."

"Damon won't be a problem for you any more."

Been a 150 year old vampire meant Stefan had become well versed in a number of things over the years, and the ability to read body language was one of them. So when Raven stiffened when he said that, he noticed. And he was naturally surprised.

"What did you do to him?" She asked warily, an underlying hint of concern that Stefan could see she was trying to disguise.

He allowed himself a pause. "I persuaded him to leave."

Raven didn't say anything in return, just looked at him with a gaze that very nearly had him shifting uncomfortably. With the same burning stare, she lowered herself to the ground, kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"You said you'd tell me everything I wanted to know...if you tell one lie then I start questioning the rest, and I'm confused enough so please..." She begged with beseeching eyes. "...just be honest."

And that was the moment Stefan saw what had his Brother so intrigued. Raven wasn't fragile or weak, she'd shown that by having a relatively civil conversation with a man she had found out, minutes earlier, was a vampire. She took everything in her stride and he supposed Raven could handle just about _anything_ he told her, so long as she saw it for the truth.

So he decided that from this moment forward, he wouldn't hold back.

"I locked him in the cellar where he'll eventually starve to the point of dessication."

She nodded, swallowing thickly. "Will he die?"

"No," Stefan shook his head, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, the coffee mug clasped between his hands. "As soon as he feeds on human blood he'll be restored to full health."

"Human blood." She repeated to herself before her eyes widened. "Do you...?"

"I...uh...stick to animals."

"Jesus." Raven uttered, rubbing a hand over her tired face."I'm going to need something stronger than your average caffeine buzz to get through this." She quipped, the words sounding strained as she hauled herself to her feet.

Stefan was inclined to agree but still silently declined when Raven held up a whisky bottle in offering. "Have you any idea what happened to me?" She asked over the noise she was making with fixing her drink, glass colliding with glass, the sound of crushed ice hitting the bottom of the tumbler and then softly flowing liquid, before she was walking back over to him. "Salute!" She sighed, holding up her glass in cheers then taking a swig of the strong liquor. Wincing, she elaborated on her earlier question. "Do you know why I saw Damon and Care?"

"It's called Astral projection." Stefan explained whilst Raven, once again, got comfortable on the rug by the fire. She suddenly looked captivated, like he was about to tell her a ghost story. "The ability to transport your spiritual self from one location to another."

"But it just happened..." She frowned, "..It's not any kind of ability if I didn't mean to do it."

"You'll learn to control it, once you figure out what you are." He confirmed, like he'd had years of experience with similar circumstances. "Supernatural entities have existed in Mystic falls and beyond for a long, long time, Raven. It's all true, every bit of it; Vampires, witches, werewolves...they're all out there. If you are capable of something such as astral projection you have to prepare for the possibility you are so much more than you thought."

He sighed when Raven eyes lowered to the floor, settling into a contemplative silence.

His earlier promise to himself of not holding back had to be broken, there was only so much truth one teenage girl could take.

He really did feel for her. As calm and collected as she appeared to be, the information obviously had yet to sink in, and when it eventually did her thoughts would be in turmoil. A week and a half ago, she was just a normal seventeen year old girl, now, she'd discovered the world she lived in wasn't what she thought it was.

Stefan wasn't an idiot. He knew Raven's ancestors and he _knew_ what she was, but he couldn't bring himself to spring everything on her at once. She would be overwhelmed and even more confused than she already was. His mind drifted back to 1864 and what he felt when Katherine had revealed her true self to him. He was horrified, until she had compelled him, then he couldn't care less about what she was. But the resentment towards his Father for been secretly aware of those things the whole time, that didn't go away. With that in mind, he couldn't allow the truth to hit Raven around the face. In regards to her special 'powers, he needed to break her in gently, and that meant been as vague as possible for the time being.

"I'll help you." He declared softly. "I'll help you figure it out."

She brought her brown eyes back up to look at his. "You'd do that?" She whispered, genuine gratefulness overshadowing the insecurity behind her words.

He nodded with a sympathetic smile. "But you have to promise me something...no matter what, you cannot tell _anyone_ about _any_ of this. If you ever need to talk, you come to me."

"Do you really think anyone would believe me?" She laughed.

Stefan sighed, leaning over to swipe the drink from her hands and taking a well deserved sip.

"I think You'd be surprised."

* * *

Stefan and Damon Salvatore were vampires.

The sentence still sounded foreign, but this ex-non-believer couldn't argue with the unarguable evidence...and I _had_ demanded evidence after waking up by a blazing fire at the Salvatore boarding house.

That morning, after everything from the night before had come flooding back, I'd gone through more emotions than a hormonal pregnant lady on steroids. First, I'd burst into terrified tears. Then, I'd near enough screamed the house down when an unknown man called Zach, who I mistakenly assumed was a vampire, tried to engage me in polite conversation. It took Stefan, who was an _actual_ vampire, to calm me down and then, I'd just been plain annoyed that the whole sorry mess had ended up with me in the centre of it. It seemed terribly unfair.

Nevertheless, I spent the next four days with Stefan and Zach. Mainly trying to get my head around the vampire thing before I even contemplated what sort of freak _I_ was. I begged the brooding vampire into showing me a few tricks in way of proof and by day two, I'd worn him down until he whipped around to look at me with the same face from my nightmare. Only this time, I didn't run and I wasn't scared...because it was Stefan, and somehow, I _knew_ he wouldn't hurt me.

That day had been an educational one...I'd learnt about compulsion, vampire speed and strength, the whole 'turning' process and the addictive, heroin-like effects of drinking human blood. By day three, he'd apparently become way too comfortable with my acceptance of his true identity and I woke to find him drinking a mug of squirrel blood at the breakfast table. I let him know in no uncertain terms that I wasn't quite ready to see my new-found undead friend with a blood moustache.

But that was the day he'd decided to acknowledge whatever it was I could do. And now here we were, twenty four hours later, walking casually into school as he tried to drill into me the first, and really, _only_ lesson of Astral Projection.

"So you're saying all I need to do is just..._really_ focus on something?"

"Yeah it's like...school." He said, somewhat patronisingly, I noted. "If you want to find the answer to a question, you concentrate. It's the same with projection."

"I don't concentrate at school." I countered, his smile dropped.

I'd also learnt in the last few days that Stefan was remarkably easy and _so_ much fun to wind up.

"Okay..." He sighed, eyes moving in his head in search of a different approach. "What were you doing when you saw this vision?"

"I was in the garden looking for my friends..." I trailed off and paused, leading him to halt his movements and face me.

"...and?"

"And I might have _fleetingly_ wondered where Damon was...fleetingly." I confessed with a pout.

"Alright, so whether you realised you were doing it or not, you-" He sighed again, rolling his eyes. "..._fleetingly_ concentrated on finding Damon...and I think it's safe to say you found him." He finished with an awkward clear off his throat. "Let's try it."

Stefan was going to give me permanent frown lines. I looked around the busy parking lot, shooting him a look that I hoped said, 'Are you serious?'

"Here?" I asked quizzically.

"Why not? It's your spirit that travels not your body. No one apart from me will even know." He reassured me. Easy for him to say. The last time I did this, I'd opened my eyes to find myself sobbing hysterically. "So, let start easy...think of someone you would rather be with right now."

I smiled, fluttering my eyelashes sweetly. "You mean aside from _you_?"

"I promise, I won't be offended." Stefan smirked.

"Okay...Matt." I decided. "I haven't seen him in days."

"So, think of Matt and...focus."

I nodded, inhaling and exhaling deeply like Stefan had suggested the day before, and I closed my eyes.

I attempted to clear my mind of everything else save from Matt, but clearing a mind full of vampires and all the other supernatural crap is no easy feat, especially on noisy school grounds. I screwed my eyes up tighter, stamping my foot and telling myself to try harder.

"It's not working." I complained, snapping one eye open to look at Stefan before reluctantly opening both. "All I can think is that I'm supposed to be projecting somewhere and that I'm not." I sighed in frustration. "It didn't help that I could hear Rosie Hague's whiny voice from behind me either. Talking about her failed sexual encounter with Liam Coughlin...and I'm sorry, but _that_ image is _way_ too distracting."

I fake shuddered but Stefan didn't crack a smile. He looked over my shoulder with confusion and then span on his heel, scanning the rest of the area.

"Rae?" He started cautiously, his back still facing me before turning back around with a thumb pointing behind him. "Rosie's at the other side of the lot."

I sidestepped to look where he had pointed and sure enough, there was Rosie, slamming her car door shut and walking alone towards the school.

Given the strange things that had been happening to me lately, this wasn't exactly a shocker, but I'd failed to disclose the full extent of my 'abilities' to Stefan and he looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I began to walk off.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" He asked as he fell into steps beside me, even though his face told me he knew already.

"I'll explain later." I dismissed as we reached the entrance.

Elena, Caroline and Bonnie were directly in our line of sight as we entered. Although, far down the hall and we automatically made our way towards them.

"She's mad at you." I told him pointedly, seeing the annoyed glance Elena shot in his direction.

"Was that...?"

"No." I interrupted, knowing full well he was about to ask if that was yet another strange thing I was capable of. "Female intuition...You've been AWOL for four days and then you show up to school with her close female friend...doesn't look good." His brow furrowed and I smirked, leaning over to lower my voice."You'd think a 150 year old vampire would know a lot more about women-"

"Oooh, Just the person I needed to see..." Caroline rudely interjected, pulling me to the side while Stefan began speaking with Elena. "What are you wearing for sexy suds tomorrow?"

As irritating as Caroline could be from time to time, hearing that innocent question was like a breath of fresh air. I almost felt like a normal seventeen year old girl again.

"Ummm. Black and white polka-dot, you?"

"Retro, I love it." She grinned, "I'm torn between frilly pink and purple sequins."

"Ew, sequins? I'd go for the pink, Barbie." I suggested. She grinned and nodded in agreement as we manoeuvred back over to Elena and Stefan.

"Stefan, where is Damon?" Caroline asked with her bright smile. "He has some serious apologising to do."

Suddenly, the normality was no more at the mention of Damon's name.

"He's gone, Caroline." He told her.

"When is he coming back?"

Me and Stefan shared a look, he shook his head.

"He's not coming back, I'm sorry."

My heart lurched as I watched Caroline's face drop. Stefan took the opportunity to slip away, but I was left with one heartbroken friend and another, who was clueless as to who, or what, she was dating. The thought had not crossed my mind before, but now I realised that In keeping Stefan's secret, I would be lying to the people I loved most in the world; my friends.

"This is a good thing, Caroline." Elena comforted her.

Caroline nodded. "I know that."

She didn't sound convinced and if I was been completely honest with myself, neither was I.

Sure, Damon had done something terrible. According to Stefan, Damon was a vampire who had completely given up his humanity, therefore he was a danger to all of us. But I still couldn't readily accept that starving him and keeping his rotting un-dead corpse locked in a vault for the next fifty years was the only solution.

Then again, surely Stefan knew the best way to handle his brother after a century and a half so I had no right to interfere. In the meantime, I'd just have to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut every time I thought about Damon gradually decaying under the boarding house. It was for the best.

* * *

The day of the sexy suds car wash.

Otherwise known as the day it was acceptable for pervy old men to get their car washed by jail-bait dressed in nothing but skimpy, soaking wet bikinis.

Thankfully, me and my friends hadn't gone for the stripper look like Tiki had. Caroline was looking pure and pretty in pink ruffles, I'd gone for a halter-neck fifties style one-piece with ruche down the sides, Bonnie had modestly opted for simple black and Elena's swimwear remained to be seen, as she was still fully clothed.

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not."

Wow. It hadn't took long for the power of running a small fund-raising event to go to Caroline's head. Me and Elena shared a sideways glance, rolling our eyes in unison.

"No we are not." Elena muttered dryly in agreement, I giggled in response.

"She really knows how to suck the fun out of everything, doesn't she?" I drawled as I looked into my compact mirror, applying a fiery shade of red to my lips.

"I heard that." She warned and I playfully stuck out my tongue before completing my vintage look with a pair of white cat-eye sunglasses.

Stefan bounded over dressed in his normal attire. Apparently, It was just the girls who needed to bare all in order to be sexy...not cool.

"Hi" He greeted with a smile which Elena returned instantly.

Stelena was officially back on.

"Don't do it, Stefan" I advised jokingly whilst Caroline looked less than impressed. "Trust me, turn around and go home."

He laughed whilst pulling Elena closer to him and I saw the looming tender moment as my cue to leave. I grabbed the leather shammy and bucket that Caroline dutifully handed to me and made me way over to a girl named Tiki, who unfortunately, I'd been partnered up with. It sucked. Tiki was summed up by one word; bitch. A skanky one if I had to use a second.

"Uh-uh, no. None of that tortured pining stuff." I heard Bonnie scold from behind me.

I looked over, seeing Matt for the first time and he smirked in my direction.

"I'm just observing." He lied with a shrug, eyes still on me as I joined them.

"Will you tell him?" Bonnie turned to me, mistakenly assuming Matt and me were so exclusive, I had the right criticise him for looking at Elena like I found myself looking at Tyler from time to time.

"Oh no" I shook my head. "I'm taking a back seat on this one. I'm taking his mind off her, not giving advice."

I laughed when he winked at me and Bonnie grimaced before she looked to the car which had just pulled up. A car that needed a lot more than a wash and wax, it looked like it needed to be crushed into a cube.

"Oh, Tiki, this ones yours."

Tiki groaned when she saw the car. "Why do I always get the homely ones?"

"Does it matter? You're washing it not buying it." I pointed out, looking at the girl in distaste.

Tiki rolled her eyes and turned on the car's owner. "Just to be clear, your car's a p.o.s. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a p.o.s."

"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie chided.

"Rude is uglying up the road with that junk."

I shook my head, getting to work on the car but Bonnie's lack of movement caught my eye. She stood, narrowing her eyes at Tiki with a look of irritation and then, Tiki was suddenly wrestling with the water pipe as it sprayed cold water into her face.

"Whoa! What the hell ?" She screamed.

"Wet and wild, Tik." Matt teased, handing her a towel while he laughed.

_That's karma for you, _I thought, while in fits of giggles. But then I saw Bonnie's smirk and the way she frowned in confusion, before looking at me with a sheepish smile. Maybe I was putting two and two together and coming up with five but...the way she was acting was strange, something was off.

It was an hour later when Matt was showing me the technique of effectively waxing a car whilst Bonnie sat on the bonnet looking all kinds of bored. I saw Tiki walk over with a sweeping brush, a taunting smirk aimed in the direction of my friend.

"Sweeper duty."

"What?" Bonnie asked tiredly.

"We have to clean the pavement." Tiki clarified.

"It's a car wash. By defini-"

"Oh, screw this." I sighed, throwing my cloth on the car and walking towards the school.

"Hey, where are you going?" Matt asked from behind me.

"Anywhere." I said, turning back to him whilst walking backwards. "No sum of money could make listening to Bonnie and Tiki argue all day worthwhile."

I heard a commotion coming from the parking lot, and collective gasps of shock which I decided to ignore as I reached the school, not really interested in whatever had garnered so much attention. Entering my combination code, I lifted my sunglasses to rest them on my head as I yanked open my locker door to grab some kind of cover-up clothing, then I slammed it shut and walked back out into the car lot.

I sighed. The car wash had been a complete wash out...no pun intended. Caroline had randomly abandoned us, Elena had disappeared and Tiki had insulted more customers than we'd managed to entice.

I was a few blocks from school by now, driving carelessly to my house and singing along to the radio. I'd reached my personal favourite section of 'Hotel California' when the music cut off abruptly, leaving me wailing in my car to a non-existent guitar solo like a freak. I clamped my mouth shut and frowned, hitting the power button of the radio a few times before the engine soon followed in my radio's footsteps. My car pathetically rolled to a halt and I just...sighed, resting my head on the steering wheel in quiet dissatisfaction.

When I'd talked myself out of retrieving the Louisville slugger from the trunk and taking it to my unreliable car's windows, I lifted my head and realised I'd broken down next to Grove Hill cemetery. It may not have been a sign sent by supernatural means, but I took it as a hint that a visit to my Father's final resting place had been long over due. I stepped from my car, locking the door behind me and wrapping a white aran knit cardigan over my scantily clad body.

Fighting my way through the trees I stopped upon hearing two recognizable voices.

"-will pull yourself together, move on, and one day tell your kids stories about your dark period growing up. And I'll still be here, waiting tables at the grill, partying at the cemetery with a bunch of waste of space small town lifers."

"Look-"

"Go home, Jeremy. If I want to feel like crap about myself, I'll just go back to Tyler."

I heard Jeremy groan to himself and decided to step out from the trees. Jeremy glanced at me and looked away before double taking, shifting his eyes back to my face.

"I take it Vicki's here." I said and he nodded with a sigh, before helplessly shaking his head and walking away from me.

There was no way I could pay my respects to my Father when the cemetery was crawling with spaced out drug users. A year ago I'd have been with them, getting high at the park or by Wickery Bridge but I guess I'd matured at a quicker pace than Vicki, Jared and the rest of the group.

Oh well, I guessed now was as good a time as any to rebuild a few bridges.

"Heeeey," Jared greeted from his relaxed seating position by a headstone. His eyes bloodshot and barely open as he looked up at me with a serene smile. "It's Ray-V...long time no see."

I rolled my eyes. Light-hearted nicknames invented by stoners were the _worst_.

"Hey Jared." I replied, my eyes glancing at Vicki as she sulked against the wall of a nearby vault. "Hi Summer...Tony." I nodded to the couple a few meters away from Vicki.

"How's it goin'?" Tony asked, not allowing me chance to answer before he was holding a messily rolled spliff in the air. "You come to party?"

I sighed, looking at Jared, who was busy constructing a bong out of a plastic bottle, then Summer, who was giggling uncontrollably at nothing, Tony, who was still holding out the lit joint with a smile and then to Vicki, who looked a cross between rock bottom and high as a kite. All this in the presence of dead people, there was something seriously wrong with this picture.

But, ever considering myself a half-decent human being, it was clear Vicki was struggling and if I had to hang with the 'waste of space small town lifers' in order to talk to her, then so be it.

"Actually I came to visit my Dad...but why the hell not?"

Two more joints and three bottles of beer later, I was sat beside a miserable Vicki in the dark. She'd barely said a word to me or anyone else, but I couldn't say I blamed her for staying out of the riveting, forty five minute conversation Jared and Tony'd had about Call of Duty.

"So you and Tyler are on the outs now?" I asked, attempting to coax more than a groan out of her.

"Yep," She replied simply. "He's an ass-hat."

"Yet so more important than your best friend." I mused with a slight smile.

"Why do you even care?" Vicki sneered, her head whipping round to face me with an angered expression. "If anything, I did you a favour...I mean, you're screwing my brother now, right?"

"Jesus, It was a joke." I explained while I jumped to my feet, looking around the group and then at her with incredulity. "What am I even doing? It's you who should be trying to break the ice after jumping my boyfriend the minute my back was turned." I scoffed as I threw my empty bottle to the ground near her feet. "Jeremy was right, you're nothing but losers."

I stormed back through the woods, heading back the way I had come. It probably wasn't the best idea I'd ever had, walking alone through a forest in the dark, especially since I now knew what things could be lurking in the shadows. But I was livid. I'd finally decided that I could look past my best friends betrayal and offered her an olive branch, only for her to throw it back in my face.

She was unbelievable. Completely content on pushing everyone away because she was 'troubled'. I scoffed to myself, everyone was _troubled_ but unlike her, they didn't blame everything bad in their life on their past. Vicki seriously needed to get over herself.

My vision blurred suddenly and I stumbled, placing a steadying hand on what I assumed to be a tree.

_Vicki was leaning in through the open truck door, switching back on the stereo. She pulled back out to see a man leaning against the bed of the truck, his head bowed and body bent at the waist._

_Her eyes flitted around the darkness before landing back on him._

_"Hey man, you okay?" She asked, without a hint of concern._

_He breathed heavily, still looking to the ground._

_"Come here." He forced out between breaths, attempting to move his hand in a beckoning gesture. "Come here." He repeated._

_Her eyes scanned the area again, apprehensive about approaching him but compassion overthrew her suspicion and she stepped forward._

_"You don't look good-" _

_"Come closer." He interjected over her statement then pausing to cough "I have something..." He coughed again. "...that I have to tell you."_

_She did as he told her and stood expectantly for a second before he began to fall._

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa." She exclaimed as she caught him before he hit the ground. "I got you, I got you. It's okay, It's okay."_

Vicki's muffled screams ripped me from my vision, and I only hesitated for a second with terrified eyes as one word escaped my lips.

"Damon."

And then I was running like my life depended on it. Vicki's life _did_ depend on it. I felt like I could hear everything, _feel_ Vicki's confusion and terror as she slowly slipped away.

I never stopped to wonder if it was real, I never asked myself what I would actually do when I found Damon attacking my best friend...I just ran.

I heard more screams. All different, male...female, and I pushed forward, surprising even myself as the adrenaline pumping through my veins forced my stamina to an all time high.

I reached the cemetery and stopped instantly, the gruesome scene forcing me to freeze.

Tony was dead. Summer was dead. So was Jared. I didn't need to check their pulses to know. I could _see, _even with only the light from the fire, I could see they had been drained of blood almost completely. There was no colour in their skin, no light in their wide eyes, they were _dead_...and Damon stood in the centre of it all with his back to me.

It dawned on me that I wasn't equipped to deal with a vampire. As much as I wanted to pummel his face into the ground, I wouldn't be able to...but Stefan would. I held my breath and took a careful step back, cringing when a twig snapped under my foot.

Damon spun around to face me and snarled. My friends' blood dripping from his fangs, but he stopped himself when he saw it was me, his face shifting into the one I'd come to recognise.

"Well, well, well." He quipped with a wicked smirk. "Hello, Raven."


End file.
